My sunburn experience :(

So guys... I did something really really silly. I spend time in the sunshine without sun cream on and severely burnt my arms and legs! My shoulders blistered and I've shed at least 3 layers of skin from the burnt areas. It's already been a week or so, but it's still pretty pink and painful. I have definitely learnt my lesson and want to share some sun safety tips so that no one else makes my mistake, I cannot stress enough how painful this was!

1. Don't be fooled by the temperature, wind can make is seem deceivingly cool while the UV rays are still bearing down on our skin! If the suns out, top up that sun cream. Preferably SPF 15 and above, reapplying often and using after sun once you've come out of the sun.

2. Remember that the sun is at its strongest between 10am and 4pm, so try to avoid sitting in the direct sunlight for long periods of time between those hours, especially if you do not have sun cream.

3. Don't forget about your face! We're always applying to arms, legs, tums and backs but I'll bet a lot of you forget about your face. I've seen many a sunglasses white patch on someone's face before, it's not an ideal look!

4. If you do get burnt, apply after sun and moisturise the skin regularly, although avoid any scented moisturisers as they are likely to irritate the tender skin. E45 lotion or anything with Aloe Vera will keep the skin from drying out and will cool it down/take away some of the redness. If your sunburn is really severe, I suggest a trip to your GP for medical advice.

5. Another trick for cooling and calming sunburn is natural yoghurt. Now, I'm not going to lie, the yoghurt will sour and it isn't a pleasant smell, but it will ease the pain and help restore pH balance to your skin.

If none of that advice was enough to convince you, then here are a few photos of the various stages of my sunburn so far on my shoulders. Ew.

My Avon Nail Polish Collection!

I have an addiction, guys. A colourful, glittery, magical addiction. I love nail polish. Can't get enough. My collection is heading towards triple figures pretty swiftly and I really have no intention of slowing the purchase rate!! It would take quiiite a while to go through my entire collection, so I thought I'd share my collection of Avon Nail Polishes with you guys today.

I love this brand. It's very affordable, and our Avon representative is a lovely lady. If you don't know an Avon rep or there're isn't one near you, you can also order products online. Avon Nail Polishes retail at £6, but there is always various shades half price, or a buy one get one free deal, and I just can't stop myself! There are plenty of shades to choose from, and the quality is quite good(a little on the runny side). They have Speed Dry, Matte and Mosaic effects for you to choose from as well as regular polish.

So here you are, feast your eyes! 

...thiscosmiclove.

We Heart It: App Review

Yup, this is a strange one, an app review. This isn't so much of a review, and is more a case of "I freakin love this app and have to say something about it!"

For those who don't know, We Heart It is an image based social network for inspiring images. Describing itself as "a home for your inspiration". It's full of motivation quotes, photos of teen idols, cute vintage filters etc. Basically, the inside of every teenage girl's head in image form. You can 'heart' images that you like, follow your friends, create sets for images you like to follow certain themes, search for a specific tag...I'm finding half of my iPad camera roll to be images I've saved from this app!

So, if you're like me and love all this cutesy, girly inspiration then I highly suggest you get this app, I could spend hours browsing!!

...thiscosmiclove.

What's in my Bag?

Being an incredibly nosey person, and with society deeming it inappropriate to raid through people's bags, I absolutely LOVE a "What's in my Bag?" post because I get a sneaky peak into what people like to cart around with them all day! So I thought I would share with you what I have in my bag today!

This lil cutie backpack is from Topshop. It was £30, but it is about 2 years old so you won't be able to get it from there anymore I'm afraid. I like to use this bag almost every day, as I like to walk to work which takes around 20 minutes, and carrying a tote or having a shoulder bag flap about your side can get quite a bit annoying. And hey, IT'S JUST SO CUTE. The drawstring is almost completely destroyed on the inside, but no one wants to look at that!

Now I have to say, and I'm not sure if this is weird or not, I empty my bag every day when I get back home. I'll put my purse on the side table, I'll put my perfume back into it's position on the dresser etc. I just like organisation, really. So there's very rarely any junk in my bag. Usually it's my purse that's full of receipts and nonsense!

Anyway, here are the contents of my bag!

1. Cath Kidston purse. This was a gift from my cousin about 2 Christmases ago, and it will be my purse until it literally falls apart. I love anything Cath Kidston, and it is very similar to the very first proper purse I bought when I was 16 and got a job in TK Maxx. I found the little gem in the accessories dept and I had it until I lost it about 3 years later :( But now I have this beautiful purse and am hoping it will last me a long time, it's so pretty and I love it!!

2. iPhone 5. My trusty iPhone which I couldn't live without! Days when I forget it feels like I'm missing a limb, which probably isn't a good thing but I can't help it! Although these days, the most notifications I get are from Snapchat.

3. Dove roll-on deodorant. I like to take a roll-on deodorant out with me because it doesn't take up too much room in my bag, and you get more use than with a travel size spray. I used to be a huge fan of Soft & Gentle deodorants until I started taking an allergic reaction to them. Things got pretty ugly, and with a swift trip to the doctors I parted ways with Soft & Gentle forever. Thankfully, I have never had such a reaction with Dove, and am not quite willing to take a chance with trying out a new brand.

4. Make-up bag. Working as a visual merchandiser, my mornings can be pretty hectic, and I usually feel like I've done a full gym workout by lunchtime! So I always have my make-up bag with me to top up after a particularly mental morning. This one was from Primark, and I think it was around £5/6.

5. Cherry Chapstick. Pretty much don't go anywhere without this. Gets transferred from my bag to my pocket every day when I arrive wherever I'm going. I get seriously dry lips, especially when I'm at work, so I like to keep it on me all the time. And it just smells divine.

6. Purple iPod Nano & Apple earphones. This iPod was also a Christmas gift about 3 Christmases ago and his name is Jeff Jr! My iPod before this one was called Jeff, so it seemed fitting, none of your 'Marie's iPod'...yawn. It's a 16GB Nano, and it doesn't even hold half of my iTunes library, but as my MacBook has sadly died it is all the music I have for on the go and it's very handy on my walks to and from work. I actually do quite a lot of walking, so I do love sticking my iPod on and getting lost in my thoughts while I walk. And of course, my earphones. I lost the new ones that came with my iPhone(you will notice as posts go on, that I lose a lot of things -oop), and so have reverted back to the older version. I'm not a huge fan of Apple earphones though, I don't find them very comfortable or very good at blocking out background noise. I'm much more of an in-ear earphone type of gal.

7. Zara Woman Rollerball Eau de Toilette in Shanghai. I love the scents that Zara have, and this one came in a pack of 3(the other 2 being Paris and Milan) for only £7.99! Cute and compact to fit easily into my bag instead of a big bottle.

And there you have it. My portable life.

...thiscosmiclove.

Festival essentials.

Festival season is truly upon us, and shops are heaving with everything you'll need to survive that weekend! I've been to T in the Park the last 3 years, although I won't be attending this year(boohoo), and being in sunny Scotland it's an extra effort to look good when the weather is just not doing you any favours! So here is my festival essentials to carry around with you during the day to keep you looking purty and feeling clean(or as clean as possible -porta loos eurgh).

1. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - Anyone who's been to a festival knows that by half way through the day, you're face has totally melted off! Whether it be by sweat, rain, thrown beverages and other thrown liquids(ahem, we all know what I mean, eurgh). So to keep your complexion as even as possible with a touch up of concealer when needed. This one has very good coverage, so if you're wanting to let your skin breathe a little the. I'd suggest Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer instead.

2. Carmex Lip Balm - For most of us who are of age, half of your time at a festival is spent cradling a ridiculously expensive cider/beer from the bar tent. And as you know, alcohol is very dehydrating for you. I would obviously suggest drinking water between each alcoholic beverage, but in reality that's probably never going to happen! SO, keep those lips soft and well hydrated with a lip balm in your bag!  Cracked lips are painful, and no one wants that.

3. Batiste Dry Shampoo - The ultimate festival beauty saviour. Any girl off to a festival usually has dry shampoo at the top of the list of things to get! 3 days without properly washing is tough, so you have to keep that hair from looking greasy, and it helps you get the voluminous boho chic look that's standard for festivals. Just add a daisy garland on top and you'll look the part!

4. Soap & Glory Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths - As I'd previously mentioned, it gets a bit sweaty at festivals sometimes, or you somehow managed to find yourself covered in neon face paint/mud/beer etc. So it's good to keep a little packet of wipes for when it all gets a bit too messy!

5. Nivea Pearl Beauty Deodorant - Keep fresh with a little travel size deodorant in your bag, you will need it more than ever as the days without a shower go on!

6. Soap & Glory Hand Maid Sanitising Gel - The one in the photo is purely because its seeeww cayoot, but my hand sanitiser of choose would be Hand Maid. The worst part of the festival experience, porta loos. Pretty much filthy after the first day, and it's doesn't get much better after that! Most porta loos do provide hand sanitiser in the cubicles, but it gets used up pretty quickly so let's not take any chances! To be frankly honest, almost everything is covered in mud at a festival anyway, so you'll be wanting to use it before you eat as well, especially since there's no sinks for you to wash your hands properly.

7. ASOS Pac-a-Parka - Another key festival item! With any British festivals there's just no telling what the weather will be, so a Pac-a-Parka is a handly little thing to have, it's comes packaged inside its pocket with a little string for you to tie onto your day bag as I do, or put inside your bag if it fits. Then when the rain comes, just fold it out and weyhey, weather protection!

I'm sure there's many more things that you'll be thinking Hey! You'd obviously need this. But those are my top items for carrying around during the day to keep you feeling as fresh as possible.

And here's some cheeky photos of me enjoying T in the Park.

So glam, eh?

...thiscosmiclove.

My Favourite Lipsticks!

Now, I'm not such a brave person when it comes to eye make up, no eyeshadow and cat-flick eyeliner usually does it for me. So I do like to be a little more experimental when it comes to lipsticks, and I thought I'd share my favourite 5 with you!

1. Mac Satin Lipstick in Captive.

2. Topshop Lipstick in Beguiled.(This is no longer in stock, but there is a very similar shade here).

3. Topshop Lipstick in Intruiged.(Again, not in stock, but another similar shade here).

4. Avon Colortrend Lipstick in Passion.

5. Rimmel Moisture Renew in Notting Hill.

I've yet to find a bright red that I really love, but I am on the hunt and I will be blogging my findings! For now I shall be sticking to the burgundy red Beguiled from Topshop.

...thiscosmiclove.

Boots SinfulColors Nail Polish Review.

Boots have recently launched an American nail polish brand called SinfulColors, and I've had a few friends rave about the great quality and value of them. SinfulColors boasts 70 shades of nail polish, all for £1.99 each! Now for a 15ml bottle, in comparison with the likes of £2.99 for 10ml bottles from Barry M and £5/6 for 8ml bottles from Topshop, it's quite the bargain! So I decided to purchase a couple and try them out for myself and see exactly how good they are! The shades I bought were a black shimmery one in 933 Secret Admirer and a purple glitter one in 922 Frenzy. And here's what I thought:

Packaging - The bottle is a fairly simple and practical shape, I quite like the chunky handle as it gives you a better grip when applying the polish. As I've purchased darker shades, and the bottle is labelled in black ink, I can't actually read it, but I'm not particularly fussed about that.

Consistency - As a fan of glitter nail polishes, I notice that they can sometimes be very gloopy and clumpy, but these ones are actually pretty smooth. Not too runny however, which you would expect from a cheaper polish.

Application - With the purple one, I applied a different purple nail polish first, because this polish is clear with glitter. The glitter applies pretty evenly, and you don't need about 10 coats to get good coverage! As for the black one, one coat was perfect! Totally opaque, not watery or at all streaky. Drying time for both was about a minute per coat.

As you can see, I'm not very good at applying nail polish haha! However, I'm thoroughly impressed by this collection and will most definitely be purchasing a few more shades to add to my ever growing nail polish collection(well into my 70-odds now). Such great value for money and the quality is amazing, highly recommended by me!

So, Boots SinfulColors Nail Polish collection gets a well deserved 5/5 cosmic hearts!

...thiscosmiclove.