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