Christmas Gift Guide For Him: Under £20

 

Hello Readers,

Today I thought it was about time I did the Christmas Gift Guide for him seen as how I did the girls one the other day! Buying for guys isn't always easy, ask them what they want and usually it's a game over £40 or they haven't got a clue. So I thought it would be ideal to pick a few items out that you could potentially buy for your boyfriend, brother, dad etc! I picked a few items on my own accord however my boyfriend helped me pick out a few items too so that means yes I have a guys perspective on this and he seemed happy enough with the selection!

I found this quite hard to do as I didn't want to show any of the things I'm getting my boyfriend this year as he reads my blog (HI CHRIS!)

1. ITunes Gift Card.
This is a fail safe present, one that you really can't go wrong with. You can get cards with more money on however I just went for the £20 as that's quite a reasonable and decent amount.

2. The Hunger Games Book Trilogy - Amazon - £11.82

My boyfriend really wants to get his hands on this trilogy after recently seeing Hunger Games: Catching Fire in cinema. I'm sure this will be a present that will go down well with quite a few guys!

 

3. Burgundy Reindeer Socks - Topman - £3

I don't know about anyone else here, but my boyfriend is a big fan of novelty socks. He loves things like this and is always in need of more socks so I know he'd appreciate it!

 

4. Brown Stag Print Watch - River Island - £20

I absolutely adore this little watch and feel like this would be a great present for any guy who's slightly into fashion. It's a quirky little watch which I personally want for myself!

 

5. Kick Ass 2 on DVD - Amazon - £10

If your boyfriend / brother/ dad etc likes superheros and silly humour then this is a dvd I'd highly recommend. Obviously, pick up the first one if they haven't seen the original or it wouldn't make any sense. This is a great movie, especially for teen boys!

6. ASOS Edwardian Fox Print T-shirt - ASOS - £12

This is a similar sort of item to number 4. If you've got a male who's into his quirky sort of fashion then this is an ideal gift. It's a beautiful top and super affordable too. My boyfriend loves this himself so I can assure you I didn't just pick it because I like it haha!

That's all for this post. I hope this has been helpful to some of you. I understand that buying gifts for males can be quite difficult!

I hope you're all well.



50 Facts About Me

Hello Readers,

Today I will be doing the 50 Facts About Me Tag as it's one that I haven't done before and I noticed that the lovely Rheya from PixiRella had done it today and tagged everyone! So that was more than enough encouragement for me to give it a go. It was quite hard trying to think of 50 facts about yourself however I'm glad I did it as it's quite nice to look at and think oh, I'm not as boring as I thought I was!

1. My full name is Paige Myra Young

 

2. I was named after a bitchy character in a show that my mum watched whilst she was pregnant.

 

3. I'm originally from Corby, aka "Little Scotland"

4. I run my own photography business and have done since I was 16 years old

 

5. I recently got a Christmas temp job at Topshop which I am over the moon about!
6. I currently live in Nottingham with my boyfriend Chris.

7. I met my boyfriend on Myspace when I was 14, we were friends for a while before finally becoming a couple when I was 16. (Although saying that, I fancied him the whole time we were friends haha)

 

8. We've been together for almost 3 years now.

9. I have a cat called Bubbles, he has half a nose.

 

10. I also had a dog called Buster, however we sadly had him put down this year due to poor health.

11. I failed my driving test twice and thankfully passed 3rd time round!
12. I don't do very well in test conditions.

13. I'm absolutely RUBBISH at maths. I'm more of a creative person so me and numbers just don't get on.

14. My first ever concert was Daniel Bedingfield,  I was about 8 years old.

15. My ultimate dream is to become a successful fashion photographer.

 

16. I absolutely love buying new clothes.

 

17. I only just got into the Hunger Games last week and now I'm addicted to it!

 

18. I had quite long hair and then when I got into secondary school, I began to have it cut

shorter and shorter until finally in year 9 I decided to get Rihanna's old short hair cut.

19. It's taken a while to grow back but I think it's finally at a decent length!

20. I have a younger brother called Jack, he's 15.

 

21. Much to the horror and disbelief of every person I've ever come across, I dislike the Harry Potter series. I've tried to get into it, books and movies but I just can't do it. I don't like it!

22. I used to be a massive greb / scene kid wannabe when I was 14. Multi coloured hair, black panda eyes, yeah you get the picture.

23. I want to go to London to study fashion photography. I'm hoping to do it next year with any luck!

24. I love going on nights out because I love dancing! I do the most crazy, ridiculous dance moves ever and feel no shame about it!

25. I love Adventure time.

26. I have the frizziest hair in the world, it sucks.

27. I'm a really fussy eater.

28. If I'm eating anything bread based and there is only bread in my mouth, no chicken or sauce etc, I will gag and throw up. Apparently my mouth doesn't like the taste of plain bread? Is this normal?!

29. I don't really like chips.

30. I don't like any form of hot drinks and that includes hot chocolate as well as tea, coffee etc.

31. I really want to see the Northern Lights.

32. I pretty much only wear black clothes.

33. I don't like wearing a coat.

 

34. When I was younger I used to love reading so much that I would to go to the library, take out the maximum of 10 books and return them a day or 2 later, having read them all!

35. Up until the age of 16 I wanted to be an author.

36. Despite passing my driving test in the summer, I have never drove a car. (Hooray for not being able to afford insurance)

37. I hate potatoes. They are vile.

38. Up until the age of 10 I used to regularly pretend to be a cat. My mum genuinely thought I needed to see someone because she was the concerned.

39. I used to be obsessed with the band Tokio Hotel.

40. I bite my nails and I literally can't stop it.

41. I'm extremely squeamish.

42. I used to be addicted to the Sims 2 when I was younger. If someone came to the door to ask if I was coming out, I would say no so I could stay in and play sims.

43. I like playing games, I play Minecraft, Gears of War 3, Skyrim, Pokémon etc.
44. As a photographer I've covered 3 weddings, 3 proms, events etc.

45. When I was about 15 I used to be able to eat 3 takeaways a day however now I can barely finish a normal sized bowl of pasta.

46. Sammi from BeautyCrush and Jenn Im from Clothes Encounters are my style icons.

47. I'm a Scorpio.

48. Everybody compares me to a Shrew.

49. I don't like getting water in my face.

 

50. These facts are quite dull!

That's all for this post, well done to those of you who read through it all. You've done well!
I tag all of you who read this and fancy giving it a go.

 

 

 



Christmas Gift Guide For Her: Under £20

Hello Readers,

I've decided that I wanted to do a few Christmas Gift Guides this year in order to help inspire those of you who are struggling on what to buy for loved ones this year. Christmas is fast approaching and if you're anything like me you haven't bought any gifts yet and the panic is beginning to sink in. My first gift guide will be for Females, so this could be for your mum, friends, sister, girlfriend etc! I decided to keep everything under £20 so that way it's both affordable and reasonable.

 

1. Rabbit Novelty Hot Water Bottle - Amazon - £6.99
With the cold weather upon us a hot water bottle can never go a miss. Especially one as cute as this! (Unintentional rhyme oops)

2. Kylie Minogue Darling Perfume 50ml - Fragrance Direct - £8.95
I think when it comes to getting people fragrances at Christmas, some of the cheaper ones are often over looked as they're automatically judged as being not as great. I've had this one twice and love it! It's such a beautiful girly smell and is a great bargain!

3. Pug Mug - River Island - £8.00
It's a Pug. Need I say more?

4. Real Techniques Starter Kit - Amazon - £18.24

Real Techniques are a fantastic brand and I highly recommend their brushes. I don't know a single girl who wouldn't be happy at the sight of these on Christmas day! This is one of the sets that I don't have so I'm pretty eager to get my hands on this myself.

 

5. Cath Kidston Assorted Tea Mugs - Cath Kidston - £20
Cath Kidston is the ultimate source of all things super cute and quintessentially British. These assorted mugs are no exception! 

6. Soap and Glory Relaxstation Gift Set - Boots - £20
Soap and Glory sets are classic gifts to receive at Christmas time, they're a great brand and offer some amazing gift sets at this time of year. All girls love them!

 

7. Red and White Penguin Briefs - New Look - £2.99

Okay so I don't know if this is maybe pushing the boundaries a bit here on what is TMI but I love getting new pants! I don't know what it is, I just love getting them, especially cute novelty ones like these. Obviously this isn't the sort of thing you want to be buying your mum but maybe this would be a nice treat for someone haha!

 

That's all for this post, I hope this has been somewhat helpful to some of you.

I hope you're all well!



OOTD #20

 

 

Hello Readers,

I thought I'd update my blog with an OOTD. It's been almost 20 days since my last one so I think it's well overdue considering I wanted to turn my blog into one that was a bit more fashion based. My reason for not really posting many outfit shots is because I honestly spend SO much of my time in my pyjamas and anytime I do get dressed and go anywhere I never really wear anything particularly exciting. 

 

Today I went out and decided to try and start my Christmas shopping but unfortunately returned empty handed but with a belly full of Mcdonalds instead. I've made a list of what I want to get everyone, I just need to look around online and in store and see where I can get the better deal. Well, that's what I'm telling myself so I feel better. I decided that I'd try and style my new Daisy printed jumper that my boyfriend got me for my birthday. It's quite a loud printed jumper so initially I wasn't sure how I was going to style it. I stayed true to my normal dress sense and paired it with a black pleated leather skater skirt, a white shirt, black tights and my comfy cut out boots.

To some of you, you may be thinking, well that doesn't look like a very loud jumper to me, but honestly for me personally I felt so colourful which is ironic considering all my outfit is pretty much black. It's crazy how just a few splodges of yellow on a jumper can make me feel like that haha.

Oh and I'd just like to add that I look absolutely miserable in these pictures so please excuse that and the lighting is pretty horrific also. I really need to find a good location indoors to take my OOTD pictures as it's too cold to go outside now..

That's all for this post, I hope you're all well!



Help! Blog Re-Design.

Hello Readers,

Apologies for the random topic of today's blog post but I'd just like to do a small post explaining some thoughts that I've recently been having. I don't know how anyone else feels but I feel my blog is desperate for a re-vamp! I really, really dislike how it looks at the minute. I'm hoping that a prettier looking blog will encourage me to blog more often. So with that being said, I'm currently playing around with it, desperately trying (failing) to understand this whole HTML business. So if anyone is good with this sort of thing or could give me a hand I'd much appreciate it!


I hope you're all well!



Photoshoot: Graphic Pre-Raphaelite Fashion

 

Hello Readers,

Today I'll be showing you a few images from a recent Gothic Pre-Raphaelite inspired photoshoot I did last week. If you've ever seen any Pre-Raphaelite paintings you'll know that they mostly feature beautiful girls with big flowing locks of wavy auburn hair. During my time at college I was given a assignment which involved re-creating Pre-Raphaelite paintings and I didn't enjoy it at all. I hated having to copy pictures and thought it was really cheesy and uninspiring. However I decided I would come back and face this challenge and do a shoot inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite style. I feel really happy with the outcome of this shoot and I'm glad I was able to redeem myself a bit with this theme.

Model: Daniella Myrick
Hair Dresser / Shoot Assistant: Trixie White
Photographer / MUA/ Styling: Myself

Location: Kirby Hall

 

 

 

That's all for this shoot. I'm still editing them so that's why I haven't included many in this post.
I hope you're all well!

 

 

 



My Birthday!

Hello Readers!

I am SO sorry for how long I've been neglecting my blog. It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post! Since my last post, I've finally finished my UCAS application, had a job interview and celebrated my birthday. So I've been fairly productive as of lately. Since it was my 19th birthday on Friday the 15th, I decided to do a post showing you just some of the things I received. Now I'd just like to add a little disclaimer saying that I'm not trying to brag or show off. I'm incredibly grateful for what I got!

 

My boyfriend very kindly got me this beautiful daisy print jumper from Boohoo. I'm a little late on the daisy print train but I couldn't care less, I absolutely love this and can't wait to start wearing it.

 Next up is the absolutely stunning monochrome floral crop top from Missguided. This shirt is so me, monochrome, floral and cropped. It's something that I'm just drawn to! My boyfriend also very kindly got me this after seeing it on my birthday wishlist post.

 I'm aware that this picture does the item no justice whatsoever but this is the black Bardot skater dress from Missguided's Sweet Deal range. It's a style staple and I can't wait to style this up. Again this is also from my boyfriend!

The final thing my boyfriend got me was this oatmeal coloured jumper from Boohoo. I've already worn this so many times since getting it as it's a classic style staple piece and since most of my wardrobe is made up of black items, this works very well!

The next thing I got was a new phone! I believe this is the LG Optimus L5 ( I think). I'm really not a tech savvy person so I couldn't say for sure. My parents very kindly bought me this as they were so annoyed with my previous phone which was extremely temperamental.  They bought me this so I can stay in touch with them better so I'm extremely grateful for that! 
My friend Hannah very kindly picked me up this pack of bracelets. There's a mix of gold and silver bracelets, majority of them are spikes and then there's one chain one which I've already wore a few times since receiving. These bracelets make a great little addition to any outfit and I love them!

 My boyfriends mum very kindly bought me these cute little fluffy footlets and this adorable polka dot hot water bottle, which is exactly what I need now that it's getting cold. I'm not a big slipper person so I really like these footlets as they're like a cross between socks and slippers, I love wearing them around the flat!  

Next up we have some delicious chocolate, because it's not a birthday without chocolate right? I've already almost finished one of the boxes so I'm sure it won't be long now until they're all gone!

 Next I have some Alphabetights in silver which again, I very kindly got from my friend Hannah. I had these before and very sadly ripped them whilst I was at college so I was extremely happy to get them again!

Lastly, is a little bit of a joke present but I love it none the less. I don't know if any of my readers know this about me but I absolutely love Adventure Time. Which is a whacky cartoon shown on Cartoon Network, you may be thinking well isn't it for kids? But no, I swear with some of the references and themes, this cartoon is meant for adults! My friend Hannah got this for me also, so thank you very much to her for fuelling my love for Finn and Jake!

That's all for my birthday haul, I did receive a little bit of money but I've pretty much used it all now on a photoshoot and a night out. I'm extremely grateful for everything I got and hopefully you didn't mind me showing you.

I hope you're all well.



Elf Cosmetics Haul

Hello Readers,

Today I have a ELF cosmetics haul to share with you all. Now if you didn't know ELF were recently offering 50% of all orders over £10 on their website if they hit 20,000 followers on twitter. Now naturally, if you tempt a bunch of girls with a 50% off code they will do anything to get their hands on it so it didn't take long till ELF had hit their follower target and had released the code. So with that being said I decided that it was the perfect time to treat myself to a few products on ELF that I'd been wanting to try. I don't believe the offer is still on now however ELF regularly do great deals on their already really cheap cosmetics so just keep an eye out!

 

 The first thing I picked up was this ELF HD blush in the shade Superstar. This retails for £3.75 and comes in 5 different shades. I have had this product sitting in my shopping basket for a few months now, I've always been curious about it but for some reason never picked it up. However the 50% of code was more than enough to push me into finally picking this product up. I was a little disappointed when I opened the product up to see that it appears to have separated in the tube as aesthetically it doesn't look very nice. However after shaking the bottle up and pumping a little bit of the product out on my hand the product came together in the tube again so it looks much nicer now. The product itself is a beautiful poppy pink colour which I think will look very lovely on the skin. I'm yet to properly use this product but from the swatch I did on my hand, I can already see that this is an extremely pigmented product. A small amount goes a long way with this blush which is amazing considering it's so cheap.

This is ELF's Mineral Foundation in the shade Porcelain. I've used this product before and I absolutely love it. It's a great mineral foundation which provides good coverage, it's fairly long lasting and it retails for £5 which is amazing as most mineral foundations tend to be quite expensive. I can't wait to get back to using this product and hopefully I'll be reviewing it sometime soon. Also, am I the only one noticing the web address typo on the product? Eyesliopsface? Haha. 

The next product I picked up was this ELF Blush in the shade Tickled Pink, which is a beautiful light pink colour with a slight shimmer to it. I decided to pick one of these blushes up as I really like the packaging and thought they had a great colour range to choose from. These blushes are very reminiscent of the NARS blushes due to the style of the packaging and I quite like that. I love the packaging of the NARS blushes however I personally wasn't really impressed with the product itself due to the poor pigmentation and transfer. (You can read the full review of the NARS Blush here.) This ELF blush was £3.75 and I'm hoping that it doesn't disappoint, however if it does then I don't mind as it was far cheaper than the NARS one!

 

Next I picked up ELF's Daily Brush Cleaner which retails for £3.75. I'll admit now that I am terrible when it comes to washing my makeup brushes. It's a beauty sin I know but it's just too much effort to wash them! I need to start making more of an effort so I decided to pick this daily brush cleaner up. All you need to do is spritz some on your brushes, a few minutes before use, give them a little wipe and they're good to go. Quick and easy! 

I decided to pick up my first ever ELF lipstick with this order. I went for the shade Gypsy which is a mauvey pinky purple colour. I don't normally go for shades like this however I decided to break out my comfort zone and try something new and for £1.50? Why not! I've only briefly swatched it so I'm yet to form an opinion of it but so far it seems like a really nice, well pigmented product. 

The final items I picked up were these 2 eye brushes. One is a concealer brush and the other is a smudge brush. Both were only £1.50 which is a fantastic deal! I already have 2 makeup brushes from ELF, one being a foundation brush and the other being a crease brush and I really like them. The crease brush is one I use on a regular basis and I really love it so hopefully I get on with these just as well!

My order should have came to £23.70 (including delivery) but using the 50% discount code I managed to get all these product for £13.32 which is brilliant!

That's all for this post. I hope you've enjoyed!
Have you used any products from ELF before? What products would you recommend to me?

Let me know!

I hope you're all well.

 



OOTD #19



Hello Readers,

Today I have an OOTD post for you all. It's been a little while since my last one as the colder weather has kicked in and I don't particularly want to be standing around taking pictures in the rain or gail force winds. I'm still yet to find a decent indoor space to do my OOTD shots, this time I tried the hallway in the block of flats that I live in. I'm not really the biggest fan of these images however I really wanted to get these up as I'd love to turn my blog into a bit more of a fashion based one.

I finally decided to wear the cat print skater skirt I picked up from H&M back in September. I styled it quite simply, just with a plain white boyfriend style tshirt, a bowler hat and some cut out boots. I believe the skirt is quite a statement piece due to the abstract print so I decided just to play it safe and style the rest of the outfit in quite a minimalistic way. I'm a big fan of monochrome and minimalism as you may know!

Outfit:
Cat Print Skirt - H&M
White Boyfriend T-shirt - Topman
Black Cut Out Boots - Ebay
Black Tights - Primark
Bowler Hat - Amazon.

That's all for this post, I'm off now to try and tackle the challenge that is UCAS!
I hope you're all well.