Sunday 28 January 2018

Often ill-prepared...~




Top - H&M
Jeans - Topshop
Jacket - Miss Selfridge
Scarf - Miss Selfridge (<--- my favourite scarf!)
Necklace - Lovisa
Beanie - Tally Weijl
Boots - ASOS

Photo credit - Ama Charles-Adarkwa

So... welcome to my first OOTD of 2018! Woo!

I attempted to start the year looking a little more put together than usual, and I'm sure I would have almost pulled it off, had it not been severely raining during the shoot, thus, resulting in a sort of I'm-nuts-and-awkward-as-hell me instead. However, no hate on the outfit at all, the downfall is all my terrible posing!

Now, for the most part, I'm not typically a jeans/trousers kinda person. In fact, come to think about it, I'm pretty sure this will be my first OOTD featuring jeans! Well, I do love my shorts... 

There is something to be said about a good pair of black skinny jeans, however, in the sense that they are very easy to dress up or down, and as I mentioned at the beginning of this post I was going for a more put together, almost mature look, which is sometimes a bit tricky with shorts.

Do expect the shorts to be back in my next OOTD though! xD


-Philippa. x


PS.: mind the soft photos, btw; as i said, it was raining, plus we were kind of on a tight schedule, PLUS ama was holding a lot of things (including the umbrella to protect my precious camera!) whilst trying to shoot me being stupid, so yeah... sorry, not sorry?!

Sunday 14 January 2018

Let's Talk... Must-Have Lip Balms!~

Can one ever have too many lip balms? You tell me...


For a few years now I have been on a relentless quest to find the best lip balms out there to slather all over my extremely pathetically weak and delicate lips, and I believe after much searching, much travelling, much research and much, much spending, I have finally found them!

So, with that said, rather than talk about the insaaane collection of lip balms I have accumulated over the years, I will instead only be talking about my essential, cannot possibly live without, must-have lip balms (plus a couple of honourable mentions!) and without further ado, here we go!


Rose & Co. Rose Petal Lip Salve - £3.99 - via Superdrug
The Body Shop Hemp Heavy Duty Lip Care - £4.50 - via The Body Shop
Nivea Hydro Care Lip Balm - £0.99 - via Superdrug

Let's talk about the Rose & Co. one first. This, I first discovered a few years ago when ASOS was carrying them and I bought it as one of those little things to push your basket total just enough for free shipping. As it says literally on the tin it is 'the celebrated beauty balm' and while I had never heard of it until that moment, I have never regretted the purchase and have been singing its praises to anyone and everyone ever since! Need a balm that soothes, protects, moisturises, stays put for ages AND smells good? This is your winner. And at £3.99 for 20g? Bargain!

Next, The Body Shop. When I saw the words 'Heavy Duty Lip Care', I knew I had to try it out as when my lips get bad, they get BAD. While not as prettily packaged or as pleasant to smell, it certainly works as advertised, having helped bring my lips back from the cusp of flaky, cracking doom many times. It's not as slippery as other moisturising lip balms, but it seeps straight into the skin and gets to business better than just about any other, so despite its high price point, I just can't say no!

Lastly, an oldy but a goody, Nivea Hydro Care. I've tried a few Nivea lip products over the years, but this has been the only one I have gone back to time and time again. It may not be the fanciest lip balm Nivea has to offer, but regardless of its simplicity it is the perfect light, moisturising lip balm I have tried. Doesn't hurt that it's only 99p either! 

Aaand now for our honourable mentions!


Vaseline Cocoa Butter Lip Therapy - £1.95 - via Superdrug / Boots
Nivea Raspberry Rosé Lip Butter - £1.50 - via Tesco

Of course, how could I make a lip balm list without mentioning Vaseline? Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of Vaseline, as there's something about the consistency I'm not too game with, but undeniably, the Cocoa Butter Lip Therapy in particular is a must-have, particularly for those of you who like a good, affordable lip balm that works. Plus, it works quite well in helping to remove stubborn lip products! My main gripe with this however, and the reason that this is only an honourable mention, is that the longevity in effectiveness isn't really there and after application it stays quite thick and slippery for too long (in my opinion). So yeah.

And to round it all off, another Nivea mention! With this, I've only had it for a little while, having purchased this just before Christmas, but so far I am LOVING what I am getting out of this little tin and while it might be a little too early to call it yet, it's feeling like this could become a must-have for me! And the smell? Oh my goodness, that alone was the reason I bought it, it's sooo yummy!

So there we have it! My first post of the year and damn, was it a wordy one! Hope this has been a helpful read and if anyone has any other suggestions of lip balms I just HAVE to try, give me a shout!


-Philippa. x


PS.: other honourable mentions not included in this post as i just could not bloody find them are chapstick medicated and a blistex one that i tried about 5 years ago, loved, lost and have never seen anywhere since. =(
PPS.: btw, yes, i do use / have used most of the lip balms in the first picture, minus the sealed ones obvs. i generally have at least one lip balm in every bag and jacket so that i can try out several at the same time to compare without too much bias.