L'oréal Pure Clay Glow Mask Review

I've had my eye on these L'oréal masks for quite a while so it was a huge surprise to receive their Glow mask in a goody bag from the girls at Hello! after a week's placement with them. (read about that here!) I was itching to try it as it's been well received so far, as it's unlike any other high street mask.

The mask comes in three colours, each with a different use. The white purity mask leaves skin matte-looking. The black detox mask cleanses skin and the pink glow mask brightens and exfoliates.

As you can probably tell, I have the pink Glow mask. Intrigued and ready to go, I followed the instructions and applied all over my face. It has a nice creamy texture with small beads to exfoliate the skin. 

At first I was slightly irritated by the subtle scent of the mask but it soon vanished. The exfoliating qualities felt really nice on my skin - not coarse at all - and after 10 minutes with the mask on, I removed it with a hot cloth, rubbing in circular motions to fully exfoliate the skin - not before playing on Snapchat of course!

As you can see in the picture on the right, the mask has some almost sugar-like granules in which work to exfoliate and brighten the skin.

Immediately after use my skin was softer and brighter - it made me not want to go out that night because I'd have to put on makeup! 

It suggests you use the mask 2-3 times a week and after a week of use I would definitely say that my pores feel tighter and are in fact more glowing!

The pot is £7.99, available at Boots and comes in a 50ml container. The box suggests this will be enough for 10 uses and having used it three times I think you might even get more out of it. It's much better quality than the usual pound shop packet ones and does work out cheaper per application! 

Overall I'd give this product a solid 10/10 (and extra *snaps* for the pretty packaging!) and I would 100% be willing to try the other products in this range.

What are your go-to pamper products? Have you tried the clay masks? Let me know in the comments below! 

Love Rosie

xx

Stationery Picks for the New School Year

Stationery by leblogderosie on Polyvore

By now we're way into September which means that almost everyone is back at school and we'll be returning to university very soon. Now I don't know about you but after having such a long time off, I find it really hard to get back into a steady routine and therefore don't really enjoy the changeover.

"What could make the prospect of returning to school or uni more exciting?" I hear you ask. 

"Stationery" I reply. *everyone cheers*

Yes I exaggerate but stationery is bae and all that jazz when you're a nerd at heart. I wear my bookworm badge with pride.

Anyhoo, here are my top high street picks for back to school. I've seriously got my eye on the Gemma Correll pieces!

Love Rosie

xx

Revolution Flawless Palette

Now I'm no makeup guru but when I see a bargain, I'm all aboard. This palette was a bargain! At £8 for 32 eyeshadows it's almost unheard of these days! They were basically giving it away for free..well £8... but close enough.

Work Experience at Hello! Fashion Monthly

Last week I was lucky enough to spend four days at Hello! Fashion, a monthly magazine based in central London. It was a rush to say the least as I only received the offer four days before travelling but it was a fab experience that I'll now share with you!

Luckily I have wonderful cousins who live near London so I was able to stay with them for the duration of my placement. However this meant catching several trains each morning to get to work which was uber stressful but here we go....

How to: make the most of a small room

Whether it's your bedroom away from home, your uni/dorm room or even the spare room, it's important not to get too carried away with decorating and instead to shop for the space you've got.

My Skincare Routine

As of right now my skin is the best it's ever been and it's all down to the extra effort I've been putting into my skincare routine.

5 Things To Watch on a Bad Day

We all have bad days and recently, I've been there. So whether it's that you have a tonne of work to do or that you didn't get your coffee this morning (I feel your pain), I think we can all agree bad days suck.

So at the end of a bad day, what could be better than curling up in bed with snacks and a good film? It works wonders for me, and soon enough I've forgotten what made the day so bad. Here are my top 5 suggestions to brighten up the day.

My Fitbit Alta

So... I joined the hype and bought a fitbit. Actually I think it was more that I gave into peer pressure, as everyone at my work has them, not that we're competitive or anything... (game on team)

At first I was a bit unsure of how they worked and the benefits they came with but I can honestly say, I've been so much more active since using my Alta. 

It measures your daily movement, in steps and miles, your calories burnt and your active minutes (if you've been on your feet, moving about for more than 10 minutes.)

The Fitbit watch comes with an app, that you can connect to your phone via bluetooth which shows a more in-depth coverage of your goals and challenges, which you can share with your friends. You can log your food via the app too but I found it too tricky so use MyFitnessPal instead. Once connected via bluetooth the Alta displays text messages, reminders and calls too. 

It has really come in handy keeping me motivated to reach a higher fitness goal. It's easy to connect with other apps too which I've been doing. I've connected Fitbit app with My Wellness (very handy for gym users!) and MyFitnessPal.

They are quite on the pricey end but I can honestly say I think it's been worth every penny.

I often sleep wearing my Fitbit and I find it so interesting as it measures your quality of sleep - mind boggling but very cool! Recently I've experimented with the silent alarm feature. I know it won't be for everyone, and it'll take some getting used to but basically, it slowly vibrates on your wrist waking you up softly, which can be nice change to aggressive alarm tunes.

It's less expensive than the other trackers out there, and although I would have liked to have the heart-rate feature, I went with the prettiest looking one! 

To see what other fitness trackers there are out there, have a look at this post on Fashion North.

I think the Alta looks quite cute and stylish, rather than the thicker ones on the market and you can get interchangeable bands too, however overpriced they may be ... so that might have to be a christmas buy! 

Love Rosie

xx

I FEEL LIKE A MILLION DOLLARS

Do you ever have that odd morning of hyper-productivity? Well, that was me today. I woke up at 7am, had a healthy breakfast of fruit and cereal and got myself ready for the day ahead.

I did a little workout video, showered, and did my hair and makeup, ready to go out. I've been working non-stop recently, so it was nice to pamper myself a bit today.  

For my makeup, I used my new Rosie, for Autograph pieces, I got for my birthday, which I've been dying to try out. The palette, 'I feel like a million dollars', is divine. The colours are creamy smooth and have a shimmery pearl to them. Today I built up the top two with the lighter shade in the crease of my eye and I really the like the way it turned out. 

I also have been LOVING this Liquid Liner from Rosie's makeup range for M&S. I find it so much easier to use than normal eyeliner pens as the tip is so sharp but it's soft to create versatile looks. I mean, for someone who normally ends up reapplying liner at least four times, this only took one go on each eye!

Makeup used: Rosie for Autograph Liquid liner and eyeshadow palette, Mac Studio Fix Fluid, Mac Velvet Teddy lipstick, Sleek brow kit, Makeup Revolution Palette Iconic 3, Lacôme Magie Blush, Makeup Revolution baked highlighter in 'Golden lights' and L'oréal Infalliable 24h matte powder.

Overall I give both Rosie for Autograph products a solid 10/10 for the product, the packaging, which is divine and the price tag - so affordable!  Next on my wishlist is the creamy eyeshadow stick which comes in four colours.

Hope you enjoyed this post guys, I'm working on posting much more frequently over summer, so keep an eye out for me! 

Love Rosie,

xx

My week in pictures

This week marked the end of my 2nd year of study at university! I honestly can't believe how fast it's gone and that I'll be starting my final year in just a matter of months.

So, last week was one big stress to say the least. The top two pictures on here really just sum it all up. Lots of naughty snacks and a whole lotta coffee. But hurrah I made it through all 8 exams including 3 NTCJs (journalism exams) which I think went well, but we'll see.

The picture on the left was taken on Friday afternoon, after we finished our last exam of the year. A few of the fashion journalism gals and I headed for cocktails to celebrate. 

Then on the right, (2nd one down) this is a sweet lil pic of me and my friends out partying on the weekend! Then the bottom right is my current sich: lazing about watching youtube videos whilst tidying my room and eating berries!

This next month I've got a lot to look forward to. I'm getting back in the gym, putting in more hours at work and I will deffo be blogging more, so do be sure to pay my little blog another visit over the summer!

This week has been fabulous - really, it's just been one big sigh of relief. 
The best part is a tie between celebrating with the girls on Friday and telling my 14 year old sister that we're going to see Beyoncé (she cried). 

Hope you've had a fab week/weekend too!

Love Rosie

xx

Earning my stripes

I know its been a while since I showed my face on here but let's just say these last few months have been quite hard on me. Uni work was piling up with many deadlines towards the end of semester, as well as that I had 8 exams to revise for! Eeek! 

But hurrah, hurrah, I have my last exam on Friday, which is my Public Affairs NCTJ. I'm looking forward to celebrating the end of our second year with my uni gals in the afternoon, then on Friday night it's a friend of mine's birthday so we're going out to celebrate. 

Me on Friday (approx 4pm) :

That Friday feeling 🎉 pic.twitter.com/o0P3dYzJOk

— Rosie (@leblogderosy) April 15, 2016

I'm hoping to get back on the band wagon with blogging as recently my anxiety has been all over the place and I couldn't bring myself to think about it never mind ask someone to take my picture. But this summer I don't have many major plans, so I'm looking forward to just chilling out, getting back in the gym, earning that dolla, and working on my writing. 

Good luck to everyone with exams this week!

Love Rosie 

xx

SCRUBATOMIC - review

If you're a regular visitor to my blog you'll know just how much I rate Soap and Glory products, and yep - youbetcha I've got another review coming your way!

I'm a big fan of their skincare products so after using their 'Scrub Your Nose In It' (SYNIT) for a few years I fancied a change and picked up their 'Scrubatomic' daily face polish. 

You can read my review for SYNIT HERE.

First impressions the packaging is cute, I like how clean it is! Like SYNIT, Scrubatomic smells divine! It's a really refreshing light scrub, which has a peachy fragrance that reminds me of nectarines! It comes out more like a moisturiser but within it is tiny pink granules armed to exfoliate.

With it being such a light polish rather than a scrub, it's great for everyday use. I tend to use it just after a shower, when my pores are open! Since using Scrubatomic my skin has been much less prone to breakouts - in fact I haven't had one in months, only the odd blemish when I'm stressed which is normal for me.

It comes in 100ml tube, which is fab because mine seems to have lasted 3 months and it's still 3/4 full - so it's great value for money at only £9 if you think it'll last months.

Once again 10/10 to another S&G product! I've just picked up their foaming face wash too, so fingers crossed it performs as well!

Love Rosie

xx

Makeup Revolution Iconic 3 Palette

Morning lovelies! I thought I'd start this week off on a good note, since it's going to be a super busy one for me, with three deadlines eek! Hopefully you don't have the Monday blues but if you do make sure you treat yourself to a big cuppa tea and a biscuit (or two) and have a little read on.

My wonderful friend Lucy bought me this palette for Christmas and I can honestly say I've used it almost every day since. It's the Redemption Palette in Iconic 3 by Makeup Revolution. 

The palette consists of 4 matte shades and 8 shimmery ones. They are all quite light on the skin but if you layer it up it can be quite effective. I did try and take a photo of me wearing a few of these shades but I looked ridiculous so you'll just have to trust me that they look fab on, especially with a flick of eyeliner!

They catch the light really well which I think looks lovely on!

The palette is such a bargain at only £4 each! At that price they're worth a try right? There are such amazing quality for the price, I'll deffo be treating myself to a few other Makeup Revolution palettes soon! 

Click here to enjoy their products on the Superdrug website! 

What's your fave eyeshadow product at the moment?

Love Rosie 

xx

20th Birthday Celebrations

Wow how weird it is to write 20th birthday. I don't feel old but honestly I swear I'm still 16 at heart! My Mum decided to welcome me to my 20s with 'Welcome to the era of responsibility.' Eek! Thanks for that Mumma, that's not terrifying at all!

I had a fabulous birthday with thanks to my bestest friends. I went to uni in the morning for a workshop and our weekly Fashion North meeting, then I caught the bus to Leeds to meet my bestie for a night out there and a day of shopping to follow - yippee!

The cutest birthday cards!

Rebekah & I

Magical cocktails at Alchemist!

Bits I picked up shopping & a purse from my lil sis!

 Leeds was beautiful. It's such a lovely city and I'm kicking myself for not taking more photos! 

I apologise for my lack of posts recently. I have so many ideas for posts I keep meaning to do but I have been so stressed with work and uni recently I just haven't got round to it. But fingers crossed I'll be back to normal asap, just please bear with me! 

Love Rosie 

xx

Musings of a Stressed Student #2

Do you ever get that kind of happy rush when you have lots on? Well for me, that just sums me up. I thrive on having things on.

I was at work in the early week and I had a lot of work to do for university, so the productivity began quite early. Sadly our netball match was cancelled on Wednesday, and although disappointing, it gave me time to catch up on all the work I've been avoiding.

If you didn't already know (Golly that sounds terrible!) Well, I'm deputy editor of a website, Fashion North and this week I'm proud to say that we planned fantastic posts on Thursday. I'm super excited about the International Women's Day content we have for March 8th. I'm writing a post about fictional heroines - exciting! So be sure to check it out next week when it goes live!

I've caught up with shorthand, after injuring my hand making it physically impossible. I'm on track for French (finally) as I had mountains of work to get through and on top of that I had some fabulous news on Thursday - one of my best friends is coming back to university!

All in all, it's been a fab week. Sometimes you can just get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life and all the chores you 'need' to do, that you forget to take time for yourself. This is my downfall, but this week I changed that and I'm quite proud of myself for doing so.

I've been watching - The Brits

I've been listening to - Best Fake Smile by James Bay

I've been reading - The Dressmaker (Review to come soon!)

That's all for today's Sunday Musings lovelies. I hope you're enjoying this lil' series and if there's anything you want to see on here, let me know.

Love Rosie

xx

The Primer I swear by - Smashbox's Photo Finish

The Smashbox Photo-Finish Primer is the second primer I've ever used. I once got a tester in a magazine and after one use - I knew I needed it in my makeup drawer asap!

Priced at £25.50, or you can get a cute travel sized one for £12.50 - a good bet if you're up for trying it out. 

The primer itself is a sort of water gel, which you apply across your entire face and immediately you can feel the difference. Which I find so much better than other primers as it's such a pain having to wait for your primer to sink in before starting your face.

Instantaneously it's like a soft sheet of perfection has wiped across your face, removing all bumps you may have, allowing your foundation to sit flawlessly on your cheeks. 

It works wonders at holding makeup on. I trialled it out last Wednesday: applying a full-face of makeup at 9am, and by 7pm - after a stressful morning of Public Affairs and a sweaty netball game later, my makeup had stayed in tact - I may have wiped an eyebrow off, but I was super impressed with the results!

I've had this one since Christmas and as you can probably see from the image, there isn't a noticeable difference in the amount left. 

I'd say I have dry-combination skin, depending on my skincare routine, but at either end of the spectrum I find that the primer performs beautifully each time. If you have particularly dry/oily skin, I believe Smashbox also have targeted primers for such skins - which I'm sure are just as good as the Photo Finish Primer.

Price - 8/10 - pretty pricey but then I'd say it's worth it as it lasts agesss!

Packaging - 8/10 - I'm a big fan of being able to see how much is left.

Product 10/10 - It's faabulous daarling!

Love Rosie

xx

Musings of a Stressed Student #1 - How to feel better

It's safe to say it's been a while but recently I just haven't felt like blogging and I don't feel comfortable publishing average content just for the sake of publishing. 

I've been très très stressed recently. Uni really takes it out of you. Dealing with stress and anxiety can be tough and although common it's such a personal thing that's hard to escape, for the constant worry.

Today I want to start a series here on Le Blog de Rosy: Sunday Musings of a Stressed Student, where I'll share bits and pieces from my week as well as content that, with hope, all you stressed students out there can appreciate and enjoy!

The first of the series: How to feel better when you've been down. We all have bad days, sometimes a cuppa and a chocolate biscuit isn't enough, so here are a few things I've found productive that help cheer me up and help me relax.

1. Get a proper nights sleep. This can be hard with early starts and late night partying but it's important to get enough rest. Make sure you're getting at least 7 hours, more if you can. I try to give myself one day a week where I go to bed before 11pm, and just let myself wake up naturally - no alarms!

2. Take a shower. This may sound odd but I love a good shower. It really helps me relax. I also like to put some chilled music (The Devil Wears Prada soundtrack, if you must know!) and put on a facemask to cleanse my skin of impurities from all the nervous sweets I've been eating - oops!

3. Get some exercise. For me, this is the best stress relief. Busting out my worries with fitness training - it sounds terrible, but it's so tough I forget how stressed I am and enjoy the task at hand. Exercise releases positive endorphins, which make you feel better. Even if it's just a walk to the shop, or round the park, I promise you'll feel better afterwards.

4. Sit down with a good book and just read. I love a good book, don't you? If you're like me, always on your toes, with somewhere to be, it's likely that you don't get much time to read. I've found reading on public transport works wonders - on the metro and the bus! I always keep a book in my bag, just in case I have time to waste. 

5. Go somewhere by yourself. It doesn't really matter what you do, whether it's going to the cinema, for a coffee, even to the library - it's nice to get some alone time without the worries of everyday life. E.g. being late for work, THAT essay, your german homework etc, etc.

6. Let it all out. If all else fails, sometimes you just need to let it all out and share your problems with someone else. Whether it's your Best Friend, your Mum, your Teacher or even a Doctor. You can moan and cry as much as you want and by letting off steam and sharing your worries with someone else, you'll feel ten times better than bottling it up and saving it until your kettle boils.

I hope you enjoyed this new little feature here on le blog de rosy. I am hoping to keep this as a regular series so do let me know what you think in the comments! To keep up to date with me don't forget to follow on Bloglovin' and Insta.

Love yas,

Rosie xox

Review - A Book for Her, by Bridget Christie

I first heard of Bridget Christie a few years ago when reading something about her performance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and she seemed really cool.

See, Bridget is a comedian and her book, so named: ‘A Book for Her,’ is one of the best I’ve read since Caitlin Moran’s Moranthology.

I picked it up at Stylist Live last October, where I was lucky enough to meet Bridget herself, after her talk, and get the book signed!

In the book, Bridget chats about her outlook on life and feminism; which she really makes funny. I got some peculiar looks on the train when reading this for my sheer amount of giggling!

She’s just as fun on paper as she is in person, a wonderful quality not all of us possess.

'A Book for Her' shares Bridget’s thoughts on serious matters such as politics and FGM as well as her experiences of failed radio shows and the classic Gloucester Cheese Race, in which she jokes her ashes should be put in (a rounded seven-pound cheese), and her funeral party should chase down the hill, you know to liven them all up a bit.

Here are a couple of quotes from the book to entice you:

“When I was a kid, I asked my dad if gravity would have stopped the Ascension. He told me not to be blasphemous, and that there was no such thing as gravity. If there was it would have been mentioned in the Bible. I can’t believe I’m forty-three and I’m still not allowed to mention physics.”

“A fart is not only a political statement; it is also a weapon.”

(Christie, 2015)

So if you’re interested in modern, 21^st century feminism, and you’re up for a laugh then this is right up your street.

You can pick it up at Waterstones for £14.99 and if you really enjoy it, why not see if you can get tickets to her live ‘A Book for Her’ tour, with tickets as little as £15 – I know I will be!

Love Rosie

xx