bad blogger is uber bad /// instagram update

Wow. It happened again. I've gone for a very long period without posting. Trust me, I'm slapping myself on the back of the wrist plenty of times! I don't know why I haven't posted in a long time because I've had a real motivation lately to do some blogging but I'm actually revising for my final A Level exams at the current moment and so I really haven't had much time. It's very annoying but these exams are what determine whether I'm going to university (eeek!) so they are ultra important! Also, when I do take a break from the brain numbing revision, I don't really want to do much thinking and end up watching old episodes of Made In Chelsea and catching up on blogs so all round it's not good. However, I thought I'd put an end to this no blogging stage and just update you all on life.

I haven't actually been up to much apart from leaving school (all very emotional and i'm already starting to miss it and everyone!) and just preparing for exams. I've also been getting my summer planned and there are so many things coming together that are sure to make my 3 month (plus!) long summer the best yet! I've also been thinking about a feature I can do on the blog over summer that incorporates more of the lifestyle aspect of my blog. I won't tell you much more but it'll just be sharing with you everything I get up to!

For now though I just thought I'd show you some of my most recent Instagram snaps and then you can see how dull my life has really been for the past however many days it's been since I last posted!

so i come home from school one day to find that i've one a huge parcel of sweets... i'm not entire sure how i won them or where they came from but i'll gladly devour them! so much for a summer body eh?

surprisingly liked this years new summer flavour of fanta... 

inheriting the family heirlooms already! this was a bracelet my grandad gave to my mum which she has now given to me. it's very gorgeous but i'm scared to wear it in case i lose it! 

sometime i just don't know what to do with this little gremlin...

my dad tried to pull a joke on me whilst i was playing chauffeur to him and my mum... one was not amused!

nothing better than the feeling of buying new glossy magazines (although i haven't yet had chance to read them due to revision)

this was my last day of sixth form and i'm wearing the same outfit i wore on my first day
top - topshop
skirt - miss selfridge

possibly my favourite chocolate - i always feel like an elegant lady when i eat it as it's so rich in taste!

this picture and the next three were taken at a lake near to where i live and it's where my parents are currently practicing for the great north swim coming up next month - they practice weekly, even if it's raining! i'm so proud of them! i, on the other hand, prefer to go on a little walk around the lake...

so peaceful...

beautiful swan,
i love this picture!

u ok lottie? this was taken on the night of one of my oldest friend's 18th. she had a karaoke party at a club in manchester, it was all very fun! 

the raspberry ripple cupcakes have returned at costa! i couldn't be happier as i absolutely loved them last summer!

dinosaurs are honestly my favourite things in the world and so these snacks are now my new obsession...

and i thought i'd share the most shocking photo until last...
i went for a (much needed) haircut last week and ended up getting all my hair cut off. it was my choice before you recoil in horror at what my hairdresser has done! on the day, for some reason, i just thought about getting my hair cut a bit shorter and then decided 'what the heck, let's go for it!' it's a dramatic change (if you compare it to the previous selfie in this post) and i'm still getting used to it but i do love it. it just feels so healthy now and i've had an array of compliments which is always encouraging!

So there we go, that's what I've been getting up to recently! Honestly not that much.

As I mentioned I'm currently revising for some pretty big exams so blogging will be on and off and I'm not going to promise anything because we all know that never works. However, I do have lots of things that I want to share with you including a summer beauty box I treated myself too!

My first two exams (including the one i'm most worried for) are on Monday and then it's 2 weeks before my next big two so after Monday I'll hopefully be a bit more relaxed and blogging may be a bit more often! I'm also planning on going for a little splurge in Boots/Superdrug on Monday to treat myself after the exams so a haul may be in the pipeline?

For now though I shall love you and leave you as I'm going to resume some more revision before hitting the hay and getting a well deserved sleep! I hope everyone's been okay whilst I've been away from blogging and I can't wait to make my blogposts a bit more regular! Ta ta for now! :)

OPI my pointe exactly

Now I got this nail varnish last year when I went to New York (read about my oh so chaotic trip here) but I've only really got round to trying it out this year and only just posting it now. Before the three colours I bought from the New York Ballet collection I'd never owned a full sized OPI nail varnish before, only miniatures of some of the Katy Perry colours and some from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection so I was very excited to give it a go! Unfortunately, I'm a little disappointed but I'll share my full thoughts after some pictures!

Now from the colour shown in the bottle you would expect a nice thick, opaque grey to be transferred onto the nails. This, however, is not the case. As you can see from the swatches on my nails, it produces a much more sheer colour and isn't all that brilliant. I put 3 coats onto my nails for the pictures and even then I can see the white tips of my nails At first I was gutted. I had waited so long to try an OPI nail varnish and I was expecting the colour pay off to be great (due to their well known reputation) but I was left underwhelmed.

However, it's not all bad really. I guess the colour can be used for those days when you want something a bit more subtle or if you want/need a colour that's not noticeable. Personally I really liked wearing it at school last week, as it wasn't glaringly bright that it looked silly for just an average day at school but it did mean I had a little bit of colour to my nail. Also, in certain lights, the nail polish does actually look slightly lilac which I really enjoyed noticing! Obviously in the bottle it's a distinct grey and that's what you should expect when you go to put it on but in both artificial light and sunlight, it does appear a little lilac-y.

Now as happy as I am about this 'other colour' discovery, I still am disappointed that it doesn't come out a true grey. And honestly, the first coat you put on looks like you've applied a clear or slightly milky varnish which isn't great when, for example, you're in a rush and only have time for one coat. Plus, I have another grey nail varnish from Barry M that provides a much more opaque grey colour and considering it is much much cheaper/easier to get hold of, I would repurchase the Barry M one over the OPI one.

But I don't want this to be a really negative post as I still do have really high hopes for the brand as a whole. The miniatures I've tried in the past have been brilliant and I do actually have another two full sized bottles from the New York Ballet collection to try out so all is not lost! Also, when I think about the collection as a whole, I'm sure that OPI were going for a more sheer and pastel look which is possibly why the colour pay off isn't all that great but I do feel that this varnish is extremely watery which contributes to making the colour sheer as well.

Anyway, I really hope this post doesn't put you off OPI nail varnish (i'm pretty sure it won't!) but I do feel it is important to give true opinions when reviewing a product! The next two colours should be coming in the next few weeks as I like to wear them and try them out for at least a week before writing up my thoughts on here! If you have any other colours from OPI (or any other brand for that matter!) that you think I should try out, please let me know as I'm always eager to try new nail colours (nail varnish's are my weakness...).

That's it from me for now as I just need to finish a bit of work for tomorrow before getting an early night. I've been getting some pretty good sleep's recently (i.e. i've gone to bed early and not woken up at all during the night) yet I keep waking up really tired. I'm not quite sure what's happening but hopefully my body clock pattern will sort itself out soon as it's getting just a bit frustrating now!

I hope everyone's had a really lovely Bank Holiday/3 day weekend and enjoyed the glorious weather we've been having! Unfortunately I've been stuck inside for most of it - revising and working - but hopefully this is just a sneak peak at what's to come in the summer! I'm so excited for my exams to finish so I can really appreciate the weather that's hopefully here to stay! :)