An Extremely Picture Heavy Birthday Post

If you read an earlier post, you may know that last Sunday, I turned 16. You may also know that the way that I was going to celebrate my birthday was a surprise for me. My friends were very secretive all week prier to the celebration, and managed to keep it locked even when making arrangements for myself and the weekend, which included them having to walk 10 paces behind me so they could jump in my car shouting “surprise,” and ordering me a cake!

I finally discovered that the surprise was an overnight stay at the Alton Towers Hotel, in the extremely pink and girly Sleepover Suite! My friends and I had an absolutely fantastic time! Filled with balloons, an all-you-can-eat buffet (although we were pretty upset they didn’t offer chicken nuggets – I know!) a film that we thought we had to pay for, but we didn’t really, so it turns out that we could have watched another film, and music every time we walked into the suite and bathroom! Ooh, and a PINK SMEG FRIDGE full of goodies! The following day, we went into the Alton Towers park to go to the Sea Life centre :)

I seem to have a strange love for pretty, detailed benches.

As for my younger(ish) brother, he spent the Saturday going to Sherwood Forest to play (I think that’s what you do?!) archery, and the evening with a poker night. However, my friends and I obviously weren’t cool enough for Dylan and his cluster of friends, therefore we were banished from the conservatory (where they were playing).

On the actually birthday, my family, myself and Ellie all went out to a local Chinese Restaurant – Dylan’s choice. It was so lovely to spend some quality time together, and I hope Ellie had a good time. After all, L’amour Josie kept on stuffing won ton down her throat! (Not literally)

How adoreable are these two cards that one of my sisters bought for myself and my brother?!

Paperchase cards

We also received some other lovely cards :)

I was incredibly spoilt, and received so many lovely gifts! I am just going to show you pictures of what I got, and do reviews shortly! So expect a lot of reviews!

boots&MAC

beautybay.com

tobi.com

Sorry about all of the images, it's just, when I get my hands on a decent camera, I'm off! There's more to come. These are the Polaroids which were taken last weekend.

Next Wednesday it is Ellie's birthday, which we are both super excited about. I'm sure she will be doing a post about her birthday soon :)
-Dom ♥

Latest Boots Buys & A New Addition

Boots is basically a catalyst for me, I pick up one thing and I'm off! Walking into the shop I feel refreshed and pretty excited with anticipation of my next buy. I always end up buying the items on my list, and more. Who doesn't?! Personally, I think it's abnormal when a person can actually go into a Boots store, regardless of its size, and fail to buy anything. It started last Friday when L'amour Josie decided she wanted to take a rather spontaneous trip to Hobbycraft (yes, I am singing the word in a high pitch voice right now, aren't you?) in Tamworth. As fabulous as Hobbycraft is, the retail park we went to also had a fantastically large BOOTS! Yeeeeeyyyy! As I strolled in with the kind of confidence you see on those cheesy adverts where the middle-aged women are walking in their stripy boyfriend cardis and comfy/stylish boots (you know what I mean?) the first isle I found myself in was the hairbrush/comb/styles isle! I have recently decided that it was a must for me to invest in a wide-tooth shower comb, but I do use it out of the shower too! You probably already know this, but brushing your hair is pretty bad for it if you don't take care, and as my hairbrush is awful, I also picked up a new hairbrush I wanted for my upcoming birthday for my Mum to give to me :) (I will probably feature it in a post soon!) So this is just a plain old boots own comb, but it still works really well, and I have noticed how much better it is for my hair. I was getting my hair trimmed last Saturday so Ellie and I gave my hair a quick sink-wash and I used this to comb it for the first time whilst it was wet, and it made it really smooth and soft :)

As well as this comb, which was around the £1-£2 area, I also bought a Balmi!

Yey! This beauty was only £4.99 and I am super-duper pleased that I FINALLY gave in and bought one. It is ridiculously moisturizing, you don't have to apply a lot of it for it to go on all area of the lips as it spreads so easily, and it smells DELICIOUS! I ended up with the Coconut sent because I just couldn't decide whether to buy the Strawberry or Raspberry flavour (L'amour Josie had already decided that I was not buying the Mint one as she doesn't like the smell of mint), so I thought, you know what? Just go out there and purchase the Coconut one. Plus, the smell reminds me of the surf shops in St.Ives that I love. However, knowing me, I will probably have all four of the flavours this time next month!

My final buy of this visit was, of course, some more hand sanitizer!

The following Saturday, Ellie and I took a trip to Westfield in Derby with my Mum and (not-so) younger brother. In this boots I needed to make a couple of re-purchases and a new one!

The dry shampoo and hot oils were the re-purchases and the Dove Hair Nourishing Oil Care Repair Mask was the new purchase :) I haven't used the Dove Hair Mask yet, however, I can tell you that it is currently on offer for on £2.99 - it is usually £3.99, so it wasn't even that pricey originally - and it smells lovely. As for the Batiste Dry Shampoo - Medium & Brunette, I have used this before, therefore, I can give you a little review of the product :)

This colour tone of the dry shampoo is perfect for my hair because, as I mention in an earlier post which you can read HERE, I have fairly dark hair so I cannot use the original option. I find that this go on my hair very well. It doesn't show up and works amazingly. The smell is gorgeous too, I have found that some of the other scents are a little too over-powering for my liking. I have been able to leave my hair for much longer without washing it when I use this. It also adds loads of volume to my hair, so it is perfect for styling with when you've got a few days old hair! As for the VO5 Hot Oils (I can't find a link for them, sorry! But as you may have gathered from this post, they are available in Boots stores), I just can't imagine my life without them!

I use this beauty once a week- as recommended- every Sunday. Vo5 Hot Oils leave my hair feeling soft, renewed, and add shine. Its remedy is filled with beautiful things which work miracles on hair. I would recommend buying the bottle version as it is the same price as an option of buying a pack of four individual tubes, but you get more use out of this bottle. I love what this treatment does to my hair, and it smells nice! As for the Dove Hair Mask I used it earlier this week and it left my hair very shiny and feeling soft. I didn't need to concentrate on my ends as much as I will be needing to in a couple of weeks time, but after seeing the results of the hair mask this time, I imagine it will work miraculously for my hair when it needs touching up a bit. I also found that with this mask, my hair felt stronger and capable of dealing with heat! I definitely recommend trying this product. It does say that it is for damaged hair, but my hair isn't dyed, and I often leave it natural, meaning that is isn't in an awfully damaged state, yet it still gave a little life and care to my locks. The 'A New Addition' part of the title is just to show you that I now have a new ring!

In an earlier post (which you can read HERE) I showed you images of my beloved ring. Unfortunately, and rather traumatising for me, I entered this year ring less (sob, sob :( ). The Friday before New Year, I was out and about taking care of my Grandparents and helping out here and there, and somehow I managed to lose my ring :'( Honestly, I have never cried over something materialistic before! This ring meant so much to me, and my whole family searched for days to find the ring. Sadly, it's completely lost, and I imagine that I will never see it again. My Grandparents are amazingly, fantastically lovely, and bought me a new one the same day I lost my old one. It only got here last Thursday, due to postage etc. I do love this ring, and I am ridiculously thankful to have such amazing Grandparents who bought me this new ring, and family for looking for my old one. Yet I will always miss my old ring; it was my first piece of sentimental jewellery. I hope that I will NOT lose this ring! I am going to make an investment; apparently you can buy little plastic grips so your rings never fall off your fingers, how amazing?! Please let me know if you know where to buy them, though!

This ring is the latest version of my old ring, and for my 15th birthday, I received some earrings as a gift from my parents, and they match this ring.

-Love Dom ♥

I love Soap And Glory

Hey guys :) how are you all? hows the last week of snow been (if you've got any) :)? So last week was super busy! Our school was open on monday and Dom and I like the troopers we are went into school. Although I did feel like bambi most of the day. Do you love the snow as much as we do? As you can see we both found our inner five year old selfs; a couple of weekends ago and dom did a lovely post on all the fun we had. We finally went to see gangster squad this week aswell and all I can say is it was brilliant (plus it contained the beautiful Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) and as Dom did a post she absolutely agreed! Apart from the mismatched cinema screens. I cant really explain the love Dom has for the man himself Ryan Gosling, although I think he's lovely too ( but i'm more of a Andrew Garfield kinda girl). Also yesterday Dom's mum kindly took me to Derby with Dom and again we just bought a few bits and bobs. We ended up buying a few essentials from boots (as you do) and nipping into New Look and H&M quickly. I'm sure she will do a post on the things she bought and as it's her birthday very soon! Oooops did that slip in there... Yes it's dom's birthday next sunday and I know how excited she is! So as she's told you; Dom is turning 16 in about 3 days! I hope it's the best birthday to date for her! I thought i'd just do a quick post on my ever ongoing love for Soap And Glory! For Chirstmas my mum and dad kindly bought me a big bag full of Soap And Glory products which is the set from boots as they know how much i love their products! Here are some of the products that were inside it>

There was loads in it and the products are just so good. In the package it contains the peaches clean which is a lovely cleanser, smoothie star the body milk and clean on me (shower lotion). Also in the package was the hand food which I adore and the peppermint foot lotion.

It also contained the brown sugar and lime body scrub and the gorgeous smelling body cream. To top it all of in the Soap And Glory box there was the motherpucker lip gloss and thick & fast mascara which I don't really use but is still a bonus!

Also the packaging for their products is just amazing with the little slogans and things just make them! What do you guys think of Soap And Glory? and We'd love to know what you've been up to this week? Love Ellie xx

You're not 15 forever

In a mere 7 days, I will be turning 16! Hence the title's play on one of my favourite songs by The Courteeners ;) Turning 16 has always been a bitter/sweet situation for me - I know, I completely over think everything! It's on the bitter side because when I was growing up I found that my older brothers and sisters friends who were around the age of 16 were rude and they irritated me loads (one party one of my sisters had ended in my Barbie type-write being broke :'( ). However, I have grown to realize that I had these feelings because of my immature age. And then there is the issue of me not being able to use my Blue Peter badge anymore :/ On the sweet side of things, turning 16 allows me a year closer to being 17, which for me, has always been an age which I am really looking forward to. Also, when I'm 17 I can drive :) As well as the advantage of being a year closer to driving, I have developed the idea that every new age I turn opens up a whole new chapter for me to enjoy; whether it's just simple occasions with my friends, or something completely new, I have all of this to look forward to! As I am turning 16, it's tradition for myself to go on a holiday to Disneyland Paris with my family and some friends, however, I decided that this was a little too extravagant for me. I also had to think of my younger brother, he turns 15 the same day I turn 16, and as much as he would have probably loved to have gone to Disney again, I feel bad about taking him away from the possibility of doing something he wants to. In the words of L'amour Josie, my lovely older sister, she is "thoroughly disappointed" that she is not currently packing her suitcase for a trip to Disney. Yet this way, my brother is able to celebrate his birthday the way he wants too, I have a surprise on the way from my Mum which she has spent AAGGGEESS organizing and I get to see my beloved Grandparents on the actual day of the birthday :) As for my surprise from my Mum, I have no idea what it is, but Ellie and two of my other friends have been informed. The situation with my Mum organizing my birthday for me is quite peculiar because I am obsessed with organizing events for other people, but when it comes to myself, I'm not that fussed, really. We did have talks about a full on Sweet Sixteen shin-dig but I didn't really fancy that. There were also conversations circulating the idea of going to a different holiday destination with my Mum and some friends, but I didn't really fancy that, so for me it's all quite exciting! Regardless of the party planning, I did write a list (or two) and yes! I do still write lists! In all fairness, my Mum did ask for one...

I would love to know how you spent your 16th birthday! -Love Dom x