The Return of Just Little Lucy

For the first 6 months of 2014 my blog was something I felt incredibly passionate about. I was keen to tell everyone around me that I was the owner of a "Semi-sort-of-not-really successful" blog, my friend's began addressing me as "Just Little Lucy" and I'd even developed my own hashtag (thanks to the help of my biggest fans, Amber and Maisie). However, by the time June rolled around my ideas begun to run dry. My blog lay at the back of my mind, collecting dust and feeling unloved. That is until now...

My plan is to blog as much as I possibly can (hopefully throughout the whole year, not just the first 6 months...). I am going to document my final few months of school, my potential departure for University or maybe even the beginnings of a gap year. Basically, from now on this blog is going to be more lifestyle based rather than the beauty blog I attempted to be.

I hope you're glad to have me back, would love to hear what you've all been up to!

35mm of love

A cringey blog title? Or just pure genius? I'm currently undecided so I'll let you be the judge on this occasion.

If you know me in real life than I am sure you are all too aware of my obsession for photography and all things related. I've always got some kind of camera with me and take every opportunity to capture some images.

Lately I've been trying to expand my knowledge from your average digital formats of work to some more traditional methods, including SLR 35mm photography. The camera that I own is an Olympus OM10 that I managed to find on eBay (featured in this post here). I literally had no idea what I was looking for and simply took a blind guess and purchased one of the cheapest film cameras I could find. Since this blind guess I have found out that the OM10 is one of the most reliable cameras both in the modern day and the era that it was first introduced. A successful gamble to say the least.

Here is a selection of my favourite images from the most recent roll of film I got developed...

Everyday essentials 

Maisie (from whatmaisiewore) took this one but I loves it!

I hope you enjoyed this picture filled post, do let me know if you would like to see more of my film experimentations.

Benefit Big Beautiful Eyes Review

I don't normally purchase high end beauty products, this of course doesn't mean that I can't lust after them. The main subject of my lusting for the past few months has been this gorgeous mini palette from benefit.

The palette features 3 eye shadows; a subtle champagne, a slightly darker champagne and then a dark brown. It also has a generously large pan of boi-ing (which annoyingly enough is way too dark for me).

I love how small and compact this product is, it fits in my make up bag perfectly and the mirror inside is perfect for on the go applications. The little brushes that fit neatly in are another bonus.

I absolutely adore this product and have worn it everyday since purchasing. I am slightly unconvinced that its worth the hefty price tag, but I guess that goes without saying for high end products.  

My finished look, and a current favourite everyday eye make up combo

A Dr. Martens love story

I've always been a rather large shoe fan, taking up the most room in my households shoe shelf, and more recently taking over the whole thing with my expanding collection. I have inherited this shoeaholic gene from my mother, and like all hand-me-downs you've just gotta appreciate it am I right?! I get a legitimate buzz out of buying bits of rubber to place on my feet so where is the harm in that!

And so this brings me onto my latest love. I first saw this pair of Dr. Martens a few months ago, i instantly fell in love, however the hefty price tag was out of my reach. I made a mental note to keep checking the website to see if they would be reduced in the end of season sale. After a long stint of eBay searching, page refreshing and bookmarking I finally found a sale pair, I was also able to get student discount which made them affordable woohoo! 

They are an off-white beige colour, very versatile for both summer and winter. I just know that I am going to get so much wear out of these and I'm pretty sure they are going to see me through a good few years of adventures. 

Here's a bonus OOTD for you, I had planned a location to take these pictures on but sadly the english weather let me down, my back garden will have to do!

Do you have a shoe obsession?

Lucy x

Top 5 favourite books

I consider myself somewhat of a bookworm, I love the feeling of getting sucked into a good book and getting totally consumed in a jumble of words. In celebration of The Fault in Our Stars movie being released today in the UK I thought I would show you 5 of my all time favourite books. In no particular order....

One Million Lovely Letters

This is the most recent addition to my pile, I discovered it from one of my favorutie youtubers carrie fletcher. This book is pretty different to anything I've read before, in short this is a collection of stories and memoirs of Jodi's life. Jodi set up and runs the amazing project that is "One Million Lovely Letters" I'd never heard of this before but after reading the book I will be following the project from here on in. An incredibly inspiring read that has influenced me a lot in a short space of time.

The Fault in Our Stars

I'm sure that everyone will have heard of this book, I actually read it soon after it came out 2 years ago, before all of the hype. I instantly fell in love and have proceeded to re read it multiple times ever since. I have a habit of associating certain things with moments/times in my life (songs, smells, items of clothing, lipsticks... you name it), and this book, in my mind, is associated with a particularly happy time. I am SO excited for the movie to come out and I recommend everyone to read this book if you haven't already!

It's Kind of a Funny Story

I actually saw the film of this before I read the book, the biggest crime of them all am I right?! But seriously, in my opinion this is one of the most underrated books of all time, it has such a great storyline, fantastic characters and has the ability to make you both laugh and cry which makes it an all round winner for me.

The Catcher in the Rye

My list wouldn't be complete without a classic novel. This year I did combined english A level, there were parts of this course that I hated and parts that I loved, reading this book was, for me, the most enjoyable (all the food Miss Ames fed us was also a highlight). I'd actually already read it a few years ago but didn't full understand it so learning everything about it from my teachers, and everyone else in the class (Maisie and Sam mostly... thanks for your knowledge guys!) was so enjoyable. I strongly suggests that everyone reads this book once in their lifetime, particularly if you're in the tricky part of growing up where you're not sure if you're an adult or a child... very confusing and slightly disheartening at times.

Grow Up

This was the first book I purchased on my kindle and I instantly fell in love with it, Grow Up is a book about a fairly normal boy who believes his step dad is a murderer. Despite contending with a serious subject the book is hilarious, it's such an easy read and definitely underrated.

I hope you enjoyed this slightly longer post, I certainly enjoyed writing it and would love to know what your favourite books are?!

Sunny day at the beach and a great big THANK YOU!

At the weekend my blog hit 100 followers! I can still hardly believe that 1 person would be interested in my ramblings, let alone 100 of you. It seems absolutely crazy and although this statistic might not seem a lot to some people, it's pretty big to me! So thank you to every single person that has followed me in the past 6 months, I appreciate every single one of you and always check out your blogs as well. I'm planning a small giveaway when I get to 200 followers so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for that!

I also went to the beach on sunday so thought I'd show you a few snaps from that. It was a beautiful sunny day and me and my mum thought it would be a nice idea to stop by at the beach and have some lunch before going to tesco, exciting hey?! 

First things first my OOTD! I love this Dorothy Perkins dress, its from the petite section and fits like a glove, the perfect summer dress. 

Sneak peek at an upcoming post... nails so shiny I can see my face in them?! YES PLEASE. 

 One final thing... one of my besties Maisie from whatmaisiewore went through some pretty major surgery on Friday, if you have a spare minute in your day I am sure she'd appreciate some happy messages!

Thanks again for following my blog!

Bloggers don't lie

It's true, the bloggers don't lie; in particular they don't lie when it comes to beauty product reviews. The soap & glory aisle in boots is a location that I have skimmed by with minimal enthusiasm in the past few years, this doesn't mean I haven't been aware of the hype this range has created. As you are probably aware it was my birthday a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to receive 3 products from my good friend (and fellow blogger) Laura.

Soap & Glory - The Scrub of Your Life

I've never really been a fan of exfoliators, I'm not a huge fan of the 'gritty' feeling these products create and the few that I have tried have left me feeling unimpressed. This one, however, is an exception. My skin has never felt so smooth! I've been using this one a few times a week rather than every night as I don't want to over exfoliate... is that a thing? It is now. (But seriously anyone else have a fear of scrubbing so hard their skin scrubs off or is that just me?)

Soap & Glory - Clean On Me

A little confession here, perfumed soaps make me nervous. I've got fairly sensitive skin and therefore stay away from them as a general rule. I decided to give this one a go though and deal with the consequences if and when they happened. I've used the soap everyday for the past 2 weeks and can report no reaction, only smooth, lovely scented, clean skin. I particularly like the pump on this product which makes it incredibly convenient and easy to use.

Soap & Glory - Hand Food

I wouldn't class myself as a hand cream fanatic (unlike my Mum) and only use it on a very rare basis. My hands don't really get dry due to the lack of work they partake in. The smell of this moisturizer has made me want to use hand cream on a much more regular basis now though, seriously this scent has become my cocaine, I just can't get enough! I have also had confirmation from the hand cream hoarder herself (again, my mum) that this is a top notch product.

All in all I am a Soap & Glory convertee, my question to you is what should be the next product I purchase?!