JANUARY FAVOURITES

Hi everyone! I hope your all well? I've heard many people saying that January is the worst month of the year so congratulations for getting through it. January has been an amazing month for me, and I'm  so excited because my London Fashion Week tickets came this morning. Anyway, today I will be doing my January favourites. 

Starting off with beauty as always, this month I have been loving the Lorac Pro palette. This palette is very hard to track down but you can find it at Nordstrom online for £28. This palette comes with a wide range of colours from light to dark, matte to shimmer and is so pigmented that I actually think its underpriced. The colours last all day without smudging thanks to the Lorac primer it comes with. I really recommend getting this palette, its a palette that every girl needs.

My second favourite is this Barry M nail paint in Cappuccino. I love the Barry M nail varnishes because they're quick drying and have a hard wearing formula, which means they don't chip so easily. I've been loving the colour purple a lot lately so this nail paint is perfect because its purple with a hint of grey (my all time favourite colour). 

The next product I've been loving is the Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil. When I first bought this I was worried that it would be too greasy on the skin, thank god its not. Its so easy to apply and it drys really nicely leaving your skin soft so that makeup doesn't slip and slide. I have dry skin but ever since I started using this with the Liz Earle Hot clothe cleanser, I have noticed an improvement in my skin.

The last beauty product is the Soap and Glory Archery 2-in-1 in the shade 'hot chocolate'. This product is perfect for carrying around in your make-up bag. It has the pencil on one side and a brush on the other, so it doesn't take up too much room. It leaves brows looking fuller, thicker with a natural finish and it was only £8, so a bargain!

Another product I've been loving lately is the Agave Healing Oil Treatment. You can use this in your hair and your skin but I choose to use it only in my hair. It stops my hair from looking frizzy without being greasy or sticky. 

I recently finished reading 'Pretty Honest' by Sali Hughes and I really enjoyed it. It has so much tips and tricks about beauty and boys, however there was a few things that were irrelevant to my age group. I still recommend getting this book if your a beauty lover, pregnant or planning on getting married.

My last two favourites are both from Topshop. The first is a leopard print skirt for £35! I really like it because the print is so loud its perfect for spicing up an all black outfit. I like to pair it with a high neck black top which is my second favourite. This top is great if your looking for a plain black top as the high neck makes it a tad more fashionable and only for £18.

#ASKSKYLAR | ADVICE, BLOGGING, GOALS..?

Hi everyone! Today I thought I would do my first official Q&A so I took to twitter and asked some of you guys to send some questions using the #AskSkylar. I got a lot more questions than I expected to get, So much that I decided to split them into two different Q&A posts! This being the first half and the second half based on Fashion and Beauty. A lot of the questions were all the same but, I am going to try and answer as many as possible. 

+ A few of you asked me to mention your twitter names, so i did!

Q1. What made you want to start blogging and inspires you to continue? - @SamanthaLovesxo 

• I've known since I was young that, when I'm older I would like to be working in the fashion business. So when I was recently introduced to the concept of blogging, I thought It was a great way to start. 
• After reaching 1K in 4 months, I'm starting to feel like I've achieved something that I'm actually good at and really enjoy. This has definitely influenced me to carry on as well as seeing how far others have got.   

Q2. What motivated you to start blogging? -@CariadCarys1 

• I wanted to start blogging for years but I thought I was too young or not educated enough to do it. It wasn't till I turned 16 that I decided to get in the zone and just do it! And, know its my biggest hobby. 

Q3. What is your pinterest URL? -@Desireemerci 

• http://uk.pinterest.com/Lifeinfastlanes/

Q4. Have you got any tips for getting Bloglovin followers? I always forget they exist haha!-@dulciee 

• I know its so Cliche, but be yourself! The only person you should try to be better than is who you were yesterday. 

Q5. Thoughts on the last book you read?-@Lolizzie

• The last book I read was 'How to be a parisian' and I absolutely loved it! Its so different to other books I've read. Its funny, cheeky and has a lot of insight on fashion and dating. I'm thinking of doing a review so comment below if your interested in that. 

Q6. What do you want to achieve this year?

• This year I'm aiming high and hoping to reach 5K followers on my blog/media as well as finish my first year of college with high grades.

Q7. Advice you would give your younger self about school, makeup + general life? 

• School- I know a lot of rumours tend to go around and people earn titles of being the b**chy one or the nerdy one. My advice would be, ignore them and judge for yourself! Talk to everyone, the b**chy one may be the nicest person you know or a potential best friend. 
• College- College involves a lot of coursework so instead of leaving it till last minute do it over a period of time. I recently spent 1 hour every night for a week on my english coursework and my teacher tells me he thinks its at an A*. It always worth it in the end.
• Makeup- When your younger you think you know everything - no offence! But when it comes to makeup , you DONT! Keep it minimal! I loved putting on lots of makeup but looking back now, its not good. 

Q8. If you had a warning label, what would it say?

• Dont f**k with me or my cat! 

Q9. Any bad habits? 

• I know this is very unsanitary but I can't help but chew the lids of my pens in class. I've never gone through the habit of bitting my nails so I think this is why. 

Q10. Whats your favourite magazine?

• I love a lot of magazines for lots of different reasons! I love Elle and Vogue for the articles they write! I love Company and Cosmopolitan for the pictures as well as the personal stories. Love them all! 

That about does it for this post, I hope you liked the answers to your questions and maybe you learnt something new. Don't forget to follow me on twitter so you can ask me questions for my next Q&A. Feel free to leave any comments down below and hopefully I'll speak to you soon. Big kiss! S. 

   

ARE YOU A CAT PERSON?

Hi everyone! I thought I would take a break from beauty & fashion and write about something a little more fun. I was watching something on the TV the other day and I heard the question, 'How do you know if your a cat person? I thought this was one of those things that you just know, but I guess not. As I'm a cat person, I thought I'd come up with a few of my own reasons for how to tell if your a cat person...

1. YOUR FAVOURITE ANIMAL! Everyone has a favourite animal but if yours isn't a cat then your probably not a cat person. Comment below your favourite animal? 

2. YOU HAVE CATS! Before I got my first cat, I wasn't interested in them, I never had a favourite animal but now I have 5 of them (2 of which were born yesterday). After having 13 cats altogether, I've learnt to love them.

(My two cats born yesterday)

3. CATS, CATS, CATS! When someone tells me they don't know what to get me for my birthday, I say anything with cats on will do. I have cat mugs, cat socks etc. If you also do this then your definitely a cat person!

4. PICTURES! Every day my cat will pull about 5 different cute poses that I always feel the need to take a photo of. I sometimes have to apologise for my snapchat story being all cats. If your gallery is full of cats then you my friend are a cat person!

5. "TALK S**T ABOUT ME...FINE! TALK S**T ABOUT MY CAT...YOU'RE DEAD TO ME"! Have you ever heard the phrase "Talk about me...fine! Talk about my family...you're dead to me"? What most people don't realise is, its actually the same for pets. When people tell me that my cats not cute, or they hate my cat or sometimes even threaten/pretend to kill him I feel like breaking down into tears. I get so angry with that person because its just as bad as offending my family. (Comment below if you're the same!) 

So that is todays quick and quirky minute post, I hope you liked having a different post to usual. I could go on for hours listing ways to tell if your a cat person, such as nicknames but you probably catch the drift. Don't forget to comment below your favourite animal or if your a cat person and what things do you do? Big kiss! S. 

Also I'd like to know whether you guys prefer long posts or short posts? Personally I prefer to read short posts but what about you lovelies?

A JANUARY HAUL | Body Shop, Urban Outfitters...

Hi everyone! So recently I have bought a lot of new things, mainly beauty products and I thought I'd accumulate all those things into a post. I didn't get anything big because I got all that over the Christmas period however I did purchase a lot of little things.

I'll start with the beauty things, just to get them out of the way. Both of these products are from the Body shop limited edition and you might of seen them in my 2014 favourites post. I got the Chocomania body lotion, it does smell like dark chocolate but when you put it on the skin its not to strong because you don't want to be smelling like a massive chocolate bar. That was £8. And, I got the Raspberry body butter because it smells so, so yummy which was only £13! 

Lately, my skin has been really dry, so I went into boots and asked the lady at the Liz Earle counter for some advice. She recommended that I use the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Clothe Cleanser. This cleanser I have heard a lot about, so without any doubts I bought it for £15.50. I plan on doing a review on this product but only once I have had it for a while longer.

Now its a new year, I have decided to make a list of products to try in 2015. The first thing on that list was the Lorac pro palette! I have wanted this for so long and I finally bought it for £32. It has so many colours and also came with a travel size Lorac primer that I'm yet to try. 

Thats it for beauty! I have been using the excuse "new year, new things" a lot and I actually used it whilst walking past Hotel Chocolat. I never usually purchase expensive chocolate because It will be gone within seconds anyway. But, I decided why not? "New year, new things" so I ended up spending just under £15 on a chocolate chip cookie flavoured chocolate bar and some boozy truffles for my mum.

The next shop I went into was Urban Outfitters because I found some Fisheye phone lenses on their website and I had to get them. Also, when we were at the counter, I was forced into buying a mug shaped like a cat, *I say forced but I really mean this crazy cat lady just couldn't resist*. The lenses were £18 and the mug was £12.

Moving on to fashion. Whilst I was in Urban Outfitters I spotted this women and I really liked what she was wearing. I later went into Primark and found the jumper she was wearing for £16 so I decided to get it and style it in the same sort of way.

I had been eyeing this pink cropped, turtleneck jumper from NewLook for a while now so when I found it for £8 in the sale I had to get it.

To finish the haul, I had recently finished reading 'How to be parisian' and was in need of a new book so I chose to get 'Pretty Honest' by Sali Hughes for just under £20. Its a very long book so I'm not yet halfway but so far, so good!

Thats everything from the haul, I still have money left but I'm attempting to save up *fingers crossed* If you would like me to review 'How to be a parisian' or any other products from this haul then comment below. Thanks for reading. Big kiss! S.

  

2015 FASHION FORECAST

Hi everyone! I was recently contacted by some lovely people from www.farfetch.com. Farfetch is a luxury fashion website with designer clothes from Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander Wang, Louis Vuitton and many more. They are mostly on the pricey side but I really recommend checking out their website. 

If you read my blog a lot, you'll know that I recently left school - it was actually a year ago but it feels like yesterday *Gasps*. In school its really easy to keep up with the trends because everyones wearing them. However, when you leave school the only way to keep up with trends is by searching through pages of magazines! This is why Farfetch and I have come together to keep you lovelies updated with whats trending for S/S 15. 

(Photo's by www.farfetch.com)

Thank you for reading this post, I hope it helped! I would like to do a Q&A very soon so please comment below any questions that you'd like me to answer and don't forget to check out www.farfetch.com. Big kiss! S.  

2015 RESOLUTIONS (& GOALS)

Hi everyone! Lately I've been getting asked a lot, about my New Years resolutions. What is your New Years resolutions? Do you think you'll keep them? What do you want to achieve in 2015?(Answer these questions in the comments). So I thought, why not make a post about it?. I've never actually kept any of my resolutions but perhaps writing them down might make a tad difference *fingers crossed*.  

1. INSTEAD OF REGRETTING THE PAST OR DREADING THE FUTURE, LIVE IN THE MOMENT! This is my most essential resolution for this year. I have backed out of so many opportunities because I've become too scared/worried about what will happen. My mum has always told me, "Its usually the things that you dread doing the most that turn out the best". I totally agree. When I was younger, I used to take swimming lessons but every time I'd find an excuse to get out of it. The excuses never worked however by the end of the session, I was glad I went.  After all that worrying, I enjoyed the swimming lessons every time, and I learnt something very important (how to swim). This happens plenty to me, but in the end it turns out you made a big agitation over nothing. 

2. LOOK AFTER MY BODY! When I say look after my body, I don't just mean exercise. I mean, eat healthy, focus on my skin, drink lots of water, as well as exercising. I'm not aiming at loosing weight, or trying to look better, I just want to be healthier. Not to mention get ready for my dance exams.  

3. BE PREPARED FOR ANY RUN-INS! This resolution I got from the book I'm currently reading,  Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes. You don't know who, when or where your going to run into someone so always stay prepared with a little makeup or a brush. You never know, you might be instantly invited to a party and need some lipstick for a day-to-night touch up. I personally think first impressions are everything, so make it count. 

4. 5K FOLLOWERS! This is more of a goal then a resolution but its something I'm trying to achieve this year. After hitting 1K in 3 months, I'm hoping to get 5k by the end of the year. I feel like 1k is a massive achievement from what I imagined in the beginning but thats only pushing me to go further. 

Thanks to everyone who followed so far and if you haven't, I would really love it if you did. Don't forget to answer the questions from above in the comment box, I'm really interested to hear your resolutions and I hope you can keep them. Happy new year! Big kiss! S.  

LOUIS VUITTON'S S/S 2015 CAMPAIGN

Hi everyone! A new year means new collections, so I thought why not introduce you to some of the best? Not long ago, I wrote a post, called AW14 ready-to-wear: Louis Vuitton, which proved very popular. I really enjoy talking about trends and campaigns so I decided to make it a regular thing. This year I'm starting with Louis Vuitton's S/S 15 collection...

 Nicolas Ghesquiére presented this stunning collection on the last day of Paris Fashion Week, wrapping up the whole show. All of these 60's-inspired looks were designed to stand out whilst being completely wearable, from crushed velvet pants to shiny patent leather skirts. My favourite thing is the beautiful detailing in the all the pieces but what is your favourite thing about the collection? (Comment below) Big kiss! S. 

2014 YEAR IN REVIEW

Hi everyone! Happy New Year and welcome to the first post of 2015 - woo! I had no intention of doing this post, until about 10 minutes ago when I realised how much had actually happened last year (2014). So I thought now was the perfect time to sit and reflect on what now stands in the past. 

2014 started with a party and finished with a party! My dad lives on the other side of the country so we only get to see him once a year. We decided for 2013 to have christmas at his house so when we came home in 2014 we had another christmas. Dinner, presents & everything else we would do just like a normal christmas day.

Once I was back, and in school, I had around 11 exams to do *Gasps*. I spent every day up in my room, studying and memorising everything. You can't imagine how happy I was when all the exams were over! For weeks I had been dreading the day I got my results just incase they weren't what I needed. Thank god, there were exactly what I was hoping for!

After that, I had completely finished high school and never had to go back again. As a celebration, my friends and I decided to go to Frankie's & Bennie's although later on that night we ended up going to Nando's for desert.  

Of course, once you leave school you have prom to worry about. The hardest part for me was trying to find a dress in my size but I eventually found one. After two days in hair curlers and 3 trips to the hairdresser, we put on are dresses and took the limo to prom. 

2014 was also the year I founded my blog and 2-3 months later I had already hit 1k followers. I absolutely love blogging, it has become a hobby of mine and I absolutely adore my blog readers. 

Not long after I started my blog, I travelled to Cyprus. I mainly went to get away from reality, not to mention get a tan (surprisingly, I did). I had so much fun eating out every night, laying in the sun all day long and just spending time with the family. 

The day after I got back from Cyprus, I had to go straight to college. It was my first day there so I had a lot of catching up to do but I made some great friends, which made it so much easier. 

On new years eve, I was invited to one of my closest friends party. There was a lot of drinking, dancing and at one point, dizziness.  But what better way to start the new year then with a midnight's kiss.  

I have 365 days of vast unknown stretching out in front of me. No one knows what 2015 will bring but whatever it is, embrace it! One resolution I'm making this year is instead of regretting the past or worrying about the future, live in the moment. Big kiss! S.