Reviewing some of my favourite Rimmel London products - or, Why I don't do beauty tutorials

Happy New Year, everybody! I hope that you've all had a lovely break over the festive season, eaten lots of food and spent lots of time with family and friends. I've been home from university for the holidays and unfortunately have exams next week, so what with trying to find time revise here and there between all of this relaxation and chocolate-eating, I've not done a great deal of blogging.

If you've seen my Youtube channel, you may have noticed that I was a very lucky girl and Father Christmas brought me a new phone, which I have had great fun trying out. I've also used it to make what I thought was a flash little trailer for this blog post, but, as I may be the last person in the hemisphere to find out about iMovie, everyone else is probably over it by now. In any case, it was fun to make, so don't point and laugh at the luddite too much.

However, you will also see that my channel is sadly devoid of all of those beauty tutorials which are so popular on Youtube and there is good reason for this; I'm not really very good at make-up. Naturally, when I raided my local branch of Boots earlier in the week, I had forgotten this very good reason and set about making a video in which I would use my exciting new mascara and eyeliner and show everybody how nice it looked. This culminated somewhat inevitably in me stabbing myself in the eye with the mascara brush, causing a fit of the giggles, which then led to my meticulously-applied liquid eyeliner suddenly migrating up to my eyebrows, all of which has been recorded for posterity on film. 

Anyway, I thought that I'd still like to share with you the joys of Rimmel London, so I have taken some slightly cringeworthy pictures and shall proceed with my post. Being a student, the thing that I like most about this brand is that it's affordable and, better still, both Boots and Superdrug do near-constant 3-for-2 offers on all Rimmel products. So, after deciding that my make-up bag needed refreshing, I picked up six different things, including two concealers, two lip balms and the aforementioned mascara and liquid eyeliner, which cost me in total just over £25. 

The Hide the Blemish cover-up stick has been a cosmetic staple for me probably since I started using make-up, so I picked up a replacement, as well as the Wake Me Up concealer. Both are in '001 Ivory', because I have skin which resembles that of Casper the friendly ghost. Wake Me Up apparently has an 'instant anti-fatigue effect' and, although I like to think that I don't usually fall for the trade-marked faux-scientific names and descriptions on these sorts of products, it really is quite effective on dark undereye circles and also as a highlighter on cheekbones etc. It feels lighter on my skin than the more conventional Hide the Blemish, which I tend to use for covering up occasional big spots (delightful) rather than hiding the evidence of late night Tumblr sessions which manifest themselves under my eyes.

I treated myself to a new mascara because I think that the last time I bought one was in 2012, scouring the Brittany Ferries duty free while suffering from mild motion sickness. As you can see, I chose Rimmel's Scandaleyes Retro Glam in 003 Extreme Black and I am demonstrating it with my very best scandal eyes above. The brush is an hourglass shape, which gives even, unclumpy coverage and a similar effect to Maybelline's Falsies mascara, my previous favourite.

Liquid eyeliner is something of which I'm a big fan and, seeing as I already have an Exaggerate by Rimmel that's really easy to use, I thought that I would invest in another from the same range. So I'm now the owner of Glam' Eyes 'professional liquid liner'. I'm not sure if 'professional' is advertising-speak for 'more difficult to use', but unfortunately that is what I have found it to be so far. Only slightly more difficult, mind you, but the brush is a lot thinner than Exaggerate's and feels a little more spindly to use, so my application wasn't as straight or smooth as before. Having said that, this might be something that I get used to, the more I use it. 

I've always loved bright lip colours, particularly in recent years since 'discovering' vintage styles, but I've never quite been confident enough to make red lipstick part of my usual look. So I was really pleased to find the Lasting Finish Colour Rush lip balms, because they come in seven different colours and are light enough to wear every day without looking too much. I bought 220 Rumour Has It, a pinky-magenta shade, and 500 The Redder, The Better, because I just can't resist a retro-style red.

As I've said, I think both shades are very wearable, even though they're bright, and one application did last for several hours before I had to reapply (though it'd undoubtedly last longer if you can go more tham half an hour between cups of tea, unlike me). 

It's been ages since my last post, as I lost my blogging mojo somewhat towards the end of last year, after quite a stressful term at uni, so I'm glad to have finally written a new one, and particularly on a topic that I've not featured before. Hopefully I've been able to show you that, even if you know next to nothing about make-up, like me, you can still have fun experimenting with new colours and products, and here's hoping that I'll have time to get back into blogging in 2014!

If you've been trying out some new make up products recently, or if there's anything that you'd like to see me write a post about in the New Year, feel free to leave a comment below!

The festive joys of late-night shopping at Princesshay

Not a lot of things make me feel more festive than late-night shopping. The fairy lights, cold winter air and bustling streets could make even the most unremitting Scrooge feel Christmassy in no time - when it goes right, that is. But if you think that tackling the High Street for presents, particularly under cover of darkness, is hell on earth, perhaps Exeter's Princesshay could help to persuade you otherwise.

The lovely people at the shopping precinct have been organising an array of events over the festive season to make your Christmas gift-hunting an exciting, enjoyable experience. When we visited a couple of weeks ago, we refuelled during our shopping trip, making the most of the free churros and Pimms offer, exclusive to Princesshay customers with a receipt from any of the centre's stores or cafés.

Younger children can be difficult to keep happy, but Princesshay had Father Christmas, the Snowman and his Snowdog on hand to entertain even the tiniest shoppers - and even my boyfriend, who will be 20 this week, the big baby...

Official style spotters were also recruited to seek out the best-dressed shoppers and some of Princesshay's most stylish buys were on display on the winter catwalk; pieces from the likes of Oasis, Reiss and Coast demonstrated that fashion doesn't have to come with a designer pricetag and can easily be found on the High Street.

If you're not quite sorted on the Christmas present front, there's still plenty of time to get down to Princesshay before the big day - and tomorrow the Coca Cola truck will be in Bedford Street from 9am-5pm, so if you're a fan of that iconic festive advert, make sure to pop down and have your picture taken! 

Written in partnership with Princesshay shopping centre, Exeter.

Afternoon tea and winter style at Princesshay's Oasis

Last week I was very kindly invited to a bloggers' event at Exeter's Oasis store in Princesshay, to celebrate its new flagship status - and what better way to do so than with a vintage-style tea party? After having a wander around the shopping centre (and popping up to the Debenham's café, where I took the above picture, for a precursory cuppa), I made my way over to the shop just in time for Prosecco and scones.

As a bit of a twist, though, champagne was served instead of tea in pretty china teacups, accompanying plates of fruit scones with jam and cream. Somewhat inevitably, this sparked the 'jam and cream vs. cream and jam' debate, although, as I come from a family with roots on both sides of the Tamar, this was a pretty tame exchange by comparison!

Miss-matching saucers and wildflowers in glass jars completed the look - like Oasis' style itself, the overall appearance was smart, but with a retro edge. With vintage crockery so in vogue at the moment, I liked that the store's staff had done something a little different by making this a very informal, drop-in kind of event, while still retaining the elegance of an old-fashioned tea party.

In terms of the new lines of clothes instore for autumn, my favourites were among the many knitted sweaters, chunky coats and cosy smaller knits, like hats and scarves. Knitwear is, as far as I'm concerned, one thing of which you just can't have too much - I've been wearing my woolly winter jumpers almost constantly since getting back to uni, although the weather is only just beginning to warrant it! 

I loved the range of different styles of knit that Oasis offered; I think that my particular favourite was a cream sweater with embroidered hearts and a black silky collar. It's much more elegant, though a bit thinner than a lot of winterwear and it's probably best to layer it up with scarves or jackets in really cold weather, but I liked its pretty details and slim fit.

The winter season holds plenty of opportunities for posh parties: Christmas dos, New Year's gatherings and - what's that? - even a masquerade ball at Deer Park in January (languages students, watch this space...) But the Oasis collections showed that you don't need to compromise on style just because of wintry weather.

The on-trend pieces this autumn seem to be either leather or lace, though rarely together, as both are such strong styles on their own. Leather jackets are a timeless classic, both comfy and stylish, something that is important to me now that I'm approaching old age. But lace-embellished blazers and leather pinafore dresses offered some new and attractive takes on older styles.

Although many pieces from the new collections were dark - black, navy blue and varying shades of grey seem popular - and in keeping with a more wintry palette, there were pops of colour throughout the store.

The variety of different prints caught my eye first. I like a nice polka dot as much as the next woman, but the nature-inspired designs seemed much more sophisticated and also reflected a more autumnal tone. Updating a plain, casual shirt with a pretty print makes it both smart for work and stylish for evenings

Diamante accessories are, or so I'm reliably informed, a must-have for Autumn/Winter 2013. As seen at this season's Ralph Lauren and Gucci shows, a chunky necklace, bracelet or brooch can add sparkle and interest to any winter ensemble.

What caught my eye in particular was the chiffon ribbon necklace, seen on the left and right of the photo above in two different colours; I like the contrast between the hard lines of the gems and softness of the fabric.

Metallic shades for accessories were also popular; the elasticated cuff-style bracelet above is simple but chunky enough to add interest to an outfit, say, a plain shirt-dress or suchlike. I liked the dark silver clutch bag, with its almost Art Deco style, because, although it carries the strong, metallic trend, it also has a very soft look about it. It's not too harsh or difficult a style to pull off and somebody like me, who knows next to nothing about fashion, would feel comfortable using it.

That's the main aspect of Oasis' lines that struck me. Although I'm not a fashionable person, and I find even Topshop intimidating, I know what kind of style I like and I thought that almost everything in the store was very wearable. That's not to say it was boring at all! Everything had a very classic and high-quality look about it, making it extremely accessible to the uninitiated in fashion. 

In keeping with the afore-mentioned time-honoured styles, accessories such as bags and shoes were mostly of classic leather and suede. Real leather especially is a really versatile material and it only gets better with age; while suede is a little more delicate, I think it's a great look for pumps or boots like the heeled ones above.

I even surprised myself by liking the leopard print pumps in the top picture! There were little swatches of it on many items around the store and I have to say that, when it's not too big, bold or in-your-face, I do really like this pattern, provided, of course, that it's faux. In the 'Cosy' section towards the back of the store, there were cute fluffy leopard print hot water bottles, as part of the 'It's the Little Things' range, which would make perfect stocking fillers.

Thank you to the staff at Oasis for putting on this event - it was lovely to have a good look around the store and, of course, to have a scone and some champagne! Hopefully I'll be able to meet some more bloggers at the other Princesshay events this year.

Keep your eyes peeled for some festive-themed blog posts and events in the not-too-distant future!