Popular opinion dictates that you're not a fully fledged blogger until:

- You own something marble,
- You own at least one framed, motivational quote.

Obv I needed to rectify this situation, pronto. Call me cliché, but I do enjoy a good bit of marble, so when I discovered Coconut Lane's amazing range of stylish, so-blogger products [which have TONNES of marbley bits] I was on it like a car bonnet. I jumped at the chance to become a Coconut Queen as there isn't a single item in their store that I wouldn't want to make my own. Prepare yourself to feast your eyes on the pieces I chose.





Marble iPhone Case, £13.00*

I adore this case. It's slimline yet tough; ideal for protecting my phone once I've had one-too-many-Jagers on a Saturday night. It's so bloody Instagrammable that I can hardly cope. And I don't think that this is too bad of a price for a phone case either - I've seen marble phone cases sell for at least double this price, thanks to their popularity in the blogging community.





Messy Bun, Get Stuff Done A4 Wall Art, £6.00*

I've never seen a quote more relevant to my life than this. As soon as I get up, or get home from work, I throw my hair up into a messy, pineapple-esque bun and attempt to get sh*t done. I would hazard a guess that I spend at least 85% of my life sporting a messy bun and attempting to be productive. I've stood this print pride of place in my bedroom and I absolutely love it. It does come unframed hence the price, but I picked up this minimal black frame for a couple of quid on eBay for no trouble at all.








Gold Queen Crown Ring, £9.00* and Gold Minimal Knot Ring, £9.00*

How beautiful are these rings, please?! They make me weep with joy, they're so pretty. However, I DID take a slight gamble when ordering them, which sadly didn't pay off. Both rings were only available in size S/M at the time, which I assumed I would be okay with size-wise. However, it turns out that I must have giant, monstrous hands as they are both way too small for me and cut off circulation to my blatantly fat fingers when I try and wear them, haha. 


If you have more petite, dainty hands and usually take a small ring size [I'm probably more of a medium kinda gal] these will look incredible on you. If your fingers are more medium size, I would strongly suggest that you order in size M/L, as these styles defo come up small. This being said, I can just about wear these rings and will try to style them up as midi-rings instead, as it seems such a shame to never wear them.





Coconut Lane have definitely become one of my favourite online stores; I've ordered with them again since this original haul, due to how great their service is and how reasonably priced their wall art is too. Their stock makes such great gift ideas; my sister is going to HEART her Christmas presents this year! 

Overall I am made up with the pieces I picked out from Coconut Lane and hope you guys like them too. Remember, if there's anything you like on their site, you can order with 20% off using my code LOVELAUGHSLIPSTICK20 at the check-out :}

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Have you shopped at Coconut Lane?


*I ordered these pieces with my Coconut Queen blogger discount for the purpose of review, but as ever, all opinions are my own. I wouldn't lie to you guys, as it's not big and it's not clever!

The more I scroll through Twitter, the more I stumble across people agreeing with the sentiment that: 

"Eyebrows are sisters, not twins." 

Which is a great piece of wisdom, don't get me wrong. However, before I went to visit Lisia Jayne @ Bloom Permanent Cosmetics Liverpool, it was debatable that my brows had even met each other before; let alone that they were related.


I recently dropped in at Bloom Liverpool for a HD Brows treatment*, which due to the erratic nature of my brows, I was totes excited about. I, like many others, made the classic mistake of over-plucking my eyebrows as a teen and have been left with stringy, sparse excuses for brows. I've never had my brows [or even my makeup] done professionally before, so I had no idea what to expect.




I needn't have worried, though - I absolutely loved my experience with Bloom. And I love my new brows even more; but I'll save the photos of them for a little further on in this post. For now, I hope you enjoyed enjoy these [somewhat shiny, damn you humidity!!] photos of me during my treatment. Note the horrendous excuses for eyebrows I have pre-HD #WispyWilma. 

Lisia was fab; she put me right at ease, talking me through exactly what she was doing during each stage of the treatment. She was also full of handy tips on how I should do my brow makeup moving forward, what shades best suit my complexion and ideas of which products I could use to achieve the same look myself, at home. Lisia tinted, threaded and waxed my brows as part of my treatment, which was all pretty much pain-free to be honest.

I honestly learned and realised so much about my brows during my appointment, and I can vouch right here, right now - that Lisia is a brow hero. When she first showed me my eyebrows after my treatment, I couldn't quite believe it - I never thought my brows could ever look so good. Lisia herself has a pair of bangin brows too; so you know you're in good hands as soon as you sit down #browgoals. BRING ON THE SELFIES!







I absolutely LOVE them - finally I can tag my photos on Instagram with #browgoals and it not be ironic! 

Aside from how incredible my brows looked when Lisia had finished working her magic on them, my favourite thing about the HD experience is having someone [like Lisia] run you through a game plan for your brows. Over time, provided that I follow my new eyebrow plan, my brows will need less makeup; as they'll have grown into their new shape. And I can't wait!! 

If you're based in Merseyside [or need a reason to make a trip up here] and fancy a proper nice set of HD Brows, check out Bloom Permanent Cosmetics. I cannot recommend the talents of Lisia enough. You can check Bloom out via their website, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram accounts for more information.


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Have you ever tried HD Brows?



*This post contains a service I was gifted, in exchange for an honest review. And that's exactly what this is! I wouldn't lie to you guys; it's not big and it's not clever. I LOVE MY BROWS!!



The Sun has had his hat on over the weekend [and I've loved every second of it] so I thought I would embrace this minor miracle and get involved with The Summer Tag. Let's go!


Question 1: What is the best part of summer time?


The sun shining, being able to wear summery clothes and not about 30,000 jumpers, tan, early sunrises, park days, beer gardens and memories of summers past.


Question 2: Do you tan or burn?


I've gone a bit pink here and there, but I don't really burn. I mostly tan - the pink eventually settles into a nice shade. I've only ever peeled once, which was when my holiday went wrong and I ended up in hospital for ages, unable to move or moisturise. RIP that amazing tan that noone got to see. *sob*


Question 3: Favourite summer nail polish?


I love wearing mint green and pastel shades in summer. You know, pinks, baby blues, aqua shades etc. I do also love a good white nail polish / a splash of neon, as they accentuate your tan nicely.


Question 4: Favourite summer drink / beverage?


Though this is basic / cliche blogger as hell of me, I adore a nice
Starbucks in the sun. Strolling through the city with your sunnies on, a tasty little Frappuccino in hand and catching some rays is a feeling like no other. Oh and a nice little strawberry cider in the pub is also beaut when the sun's shining.





Question 5: Favourite summer clothing item?

I LOVE it when my flip flops can come out of retirement, I can't lie. Sandals, little dresses for nights out and maxi dresses / skirts during the day, for cool yet somewhat covered chic. I got myself a pair of
Havianas this year and they're the most comfy flip flops I've ever had.



Question 6: Favourite current phone app during this summer?

I would ordinarily have said Instagram; as it has so many images that get me in the mood for sun and which inspire me to create different looks. And Twitter, too, obv. However, Summer 2016 has seen the release of Pokémon Go, and I now spend most of my life on that. Plus, it's an extra reason to get outdoors.


Question 7: Favourite summer movie?

I have to be honest, I don't spend much of my time in Summer watching movies. Anything cheesy, American and featuring road trips would probably rank highly, though.


Question 8: Favourite summer beauty product?

BB cream and Carmex. Oh and mattifying powder, to disguise the dreaded shine!


Question 9: Favourite summer activity?

BBQs, park days, road trips, beach days, nights out, foam parties and music festivals. Oh and beer garden sessions. So many memories and friends to be made!


Question 10: Favourite type of lip product for the summer time?

Tinted lip balms or my faithful Carmex, really. I also have a SPF lip balm [like the lads wear playing Cricket, haha] to protect my pout from burning. Not that it ever has.

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What's your favourite thing about Summer? What are you looking forward to most about Summer 2016? Are you into Pokémon Go or are you cringing at hearing me talk about it so much?



As a full-time pauper, most of my makeup comes from 3 for 2 offers at Boots, eBay, budget brands such as MUA or from Very [helloooooo buy now, pay next year!] Granted, there are the occasional moments where I'll go somewhat mental and blow my entire remaining credit limit on eyeshadow palettes I don't really need [I'm looking at you, Beauty Bay!!] but then, I also won't be able to leave the house for weeks haha. So swings and roundabouts. 


After spending a lot of time stalking the internets recently [before once again weeping at my financial situation] I've compiled a shortlist of some of the products I'd love to get my hands on this year. But in reality, it is more likely that pigs will fly, hold down full time jobs and master winged eyeliner than it is that I'll ever own any of these things. Looool [except, it's a half laugh, half cry lol.]



So, in no particular order, let's crack on.

1. Iconic Contouring Palette

This bad boy is all over Insta - mostly covered by celebs with #SPON under their images haha, but they still look awesome. I'm not great at contouring [and I'll be the first to admit that] but I really think this could help me up my game. I'd probably go for the cream palette, as it's a lot easier to blend. 


2. Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette 

I weep a little everytime I see this palette. It's so, so beautiful. I must admit, I very rarely bother with eyeshadow [as I'm sh*t at it] but watching the beautiful Leah at Devoted to Pink blog's Snapchats have made me want need this so badly. It's all about those red, maroon tones.


3. Spectrum Brushes

Again, Leah is somewhat to blame for this new obsession haha [why do you have such amazing stuff, missy?!] - but these brushes are so, so pretty. An Instagrammer's dream. The fact that you can get giftsets of these little beauties in Mermaid-esque, clam shell cases makes me emosh beyond belief. I need to get my hands on a set of these. NEED!!!

4. Urban Decay Eye Primer

... I'll give you 3 guesses as to who's inspired me to want this haha? #TheBloggerMadeMeBuyIt #SoJelOfLeah'sLife


5. Any Charlotte Tilbury lipstick

The packaging alone make these lippys every blogger / Instagrammer's dream. I saw loadssss of bloggers wearing oxblood, vampy Charlotte Tilbury shades last Autumn [the gorgeous Kayleigh from Very Berry Cosmo blog stands out in my mind, she rocked the sh*t out of hers!] and due to such [and all the hype that surrounds them] I want need one. K?


6. Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade

I recently [you may have seen this on my Snapchat, username love_lippy] bought myself an Ardell Brow Pomade off Beauty Bay. The brush applicator is fab, it applies like a dream... but it's just way too dark for me *sob.* I've always wanted an ABH brow pomade, but now I'm doubting myself as to what shade I would even order, after this disaster. Does anyone have any posts / tips for me in picking a shade? I have medium-dark brown, cool tone eyebrows. Halp.


7. Kylie Lip Kit

Every man and his dog has a Kylie Lip Kit these days. Buying a dupe / knock off Nigel is just not an option for me - I wouldn't ever buy blag makeup, it can be so dangerous. I'm not really sure why I want one of these; I have a million matte lipglosses. It's just like, a cult beauty item to have I guess. I don't feel like a proper blogger without one.


8. Lily Lashes

I don't need to say much more. Their 'Mykonos' & 'Miami' lashes make me weep uncontrollably. Ultimate perfection.


9. Plumpit Lipgloss 

I recently saw our girl Charlotte Crosby mention that she uses Plumpit lipgloss to make her lips pure massive. I personally love Charlotte's pout [and nose job] and would love both of these procedures on my face. But given that I can't even afford the basic makeup she uses, it's not going to happen, is it. I'd love to try this gloss - I recently reviewed the Perfect Pout lip enhancer actually; which shows the dedication I have to the plumped up pout cause.


10. Gerard Cosmetics Lipsticks / Glosses

I love the look of these. The packaging = total goals, the shades available = the dream and every single bird they feature on their Instagram is too hot for words. If I could only channel 0.000001% of their beauty, I'd be happy.



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Do you own any of these products? Do you have any recommendations, dupes or things you don't like about them [anything to put me off spending more money I don't have haha?]



I can't lie, I love MUA


I also can't lie - that one of the main reasons I love them so much is their insanely affordable price tags; bargains are like crack to me - I can't stop. 


But cheapness aside - I've got on really well with their products over the past couple of years and I've found the quality of them to be pretty good. Their colour correcting concealers, for example, I'm full on in love with. My under eye baggage is wayyyy above its allowance, and I've found that MUA's products actually help me reduce its appearance to look more like a human and less like a big ass panda.




I was off work last week for a few days, and during that time [aside from create insanely lengthy, rambling and filter inspired stories on my Snapchat {love_lippy is my username}] I also went a little wild online shopping. I've got no money whatsoever [so give it a week or two when I've ran out of cheese and I'll be fuming at myself] but at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. 


I therefore did a little haul on MUA's website, which I'm going to share with you guys now as I proper love them. Everything's so cheap and although Superdrug do now stock MUA, they don't have everything; which means that I have to order my Pro Base Prime & Conceal pans online anyway [look at me, pure trying to justify my actions, haha] so it made sense to add some other items to my basket to keep them company. 





Romantic Efflorescence Palette, £4.00


The ABH Modern Renaissance eyeshadow palette is everywhere at the moment - and my heart yearns for one. However, despite my heart desperately pining for one, my head is saying 'Nah lad, you're not made of money; get a grip.' So I decided as a commiseration prize, I'd buy myself a palette on the cheap from MUA; one which had as similar colours to the ABH one as possible. I've had eyeshadow palettes from MUA before and really liked them, so I have high hopes for this. Off first impressions, the eyeshadows do look really pigmented and I'm hoping I can rock a purpley smokey eye look as well as the lovely Leah from Devoted To Pink does!



Pro-Base Prime & Conceal Correcting Cream in Peach, £2 each


I've blogged about this stuff before - it's a staple within my daily makeup routine and will be for the foreseeable future! The magic behind colour correcting theory means that the peach tones work to brighten your skin; and my under eye baggage situation is so, SO much better after I've applied this cream to it I'd really recommend checking MUA's colour correcting products out, if you haven't already. The price difference between these and other similar products is amazing!







MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers in Halcyon, Vivacity & Zest, £3.00 each


I heart a good matte lip. And to be honest, the packaging alone on these meant that there was no way they weren't ending up in my shopping basket - they're so bloody Instagrammable. I was pretty impressed on how matte these were when I swatched them - and how good the colour pay off on them looks to be, too. 

I'm still to wear these properly as part of a look, but I have high hopes for them. They don't seem too drying either, which is good - nowt worse than a crusty pout is there?! They also last for a long, long time and seem to be very water resistant - which is great when you're wearing them on your lips, but meant it was a literal NIGHTMARE to scrub these swatches off my arm!








Paint Box Lip Palette in Imperial Plums, £4.00


This was a full on impulse buy to be honest - I bought a lilac
MUA lipstick a few months ago for £1 [yassssss] and loved it; and after seeing Leah's lilac lip look on Snapchat a short while ago [lol I sound like I'm totally obsessed with the girl - I'm not a crazed stalker lunatic, if you read this Leah!] I wanted to give purple / lilac lips a go. I haven't tried any of these colours yet, but they look pretty interesting - so I'll let you know how I get on!

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Have you tried any of these products before? What's your go-to MUA product? What product(s) do you use to successfully tame your under eye bags?



Hey guys! It's been a while since I've posted a good old Expectation vs Reality post [mostly because I've been too poor to order anything for the series!] but a scratchcard came good for me the other week, so we're back in business [temporarily.] Go on, my son *fist pump*


Before I kick off into a mad attack of opinions and [potentially] inappropriate photos - let's recap, for any of you who may not know what this series is all about; or might need a quick refresher to blast those cobwebs away.


I am one of the poorest people in the land - if not all time ever. I'll hold my hands up high and admit that I am that girl; the one whose card has been declined for a solitary can of Smart Price tuna, who scavenges food off others like a massive, tanned seagull and the kinda bird who sees a penny on the floor and has to pick it up - regardless of the high potential it has to be covered in scally urine.


Combine this with the fact I have an uncontrollable urge to buy things, an addiction to online shopping and that I am also a self confessed eBay junkie - and you have the basis to this series [bargains are my equivalent of crack.]


When I buy something - no matter how cheap it is - I want to know what I'm getting will be sh*t hot, not just plain old sh*t. But sadly, more often than not, that amazing looking playsuit you got for a quid and that looked pure fit on the model, turns out to be nothing more than a sick joke with lace on.


This, my friends, is what the cool kids call an
'Expectation vs Reality' moment. You know what I mean; you order an absolute bargain online that looks like it's going to be a pure fitty, but then when it arrives... you don't know whether to laugh or cry because of how terrible it is. And sometimes, you just give up and do both; simultaneously. THAT.


This series tests out some of the cheapest bargains of the internets, to see if they meet the expectations that their stock imagery suggests. Kind of like a cool Watchdog; with much less Anne Robinson and much more swearing.


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Expectation vs Reality: Part #11 > The £3.99 Shorts



[I know this second image says the total cost is £4.51, but I paid £3.92 inc postage for mine - they must have upped their prices due to 'demand'!]

Expectation > I bought two pairs of paperbag shorts from two different sellers on eBay; one pair in black and one pair in beige [or as they describe it, 'Khaki.'] I don't know what I was expecting by doing this really - both eBay stores are based in China and both used pretty much the same stock imagery to peddle their wares, but hell; for experiment's sake [and the sake of 7p] I ordered from two different places.


I'm around a size 12 at the moment; however, although these hips of mine do break, they don't lie - so I often have to get a 14 to contain them. 'Child bearing hips' they've been referred to - the irony being that I might not be able to have kids, due to how turd my bone density is. ANYWAY. A story for another day, that. 

With all that mad reasoning in mind, I ordered a size XL from both stores; described as being a size 12 - 14. Sounds perfect, right? This might not seem like a big thing or even a point worth making, but if you've read any of my previous Expectation vs Reality posts [and I highly recommend you do, although I am bias as hell] you'll know that Asian sizing is one massive gamble. Get it wrong and you'll end up donating whatever you bought to your pet to wear as a jumper. Would this be the case with these shorts, or was I onto a winner?





*All stock imagery / screenshots used in this post are taken directly from the listings on eBay 

Reality > Wow. Prepare yourselves mentally and physically for the photos to follow. I've faced many challenges in my life, but none quite as traumatic as threading the waist belt / tie through these bastards. Blood, sweat, tears and TREMENDOUS amounts of swearing were sacrificed in order to get the belt through both pairs of shorts. The belt came separate you see; just wapping around in the bottom of the plastic bag the shorts were in. Just another sick twist in this tale.

Both colours are totes see through [you can pretty much see my arse winking at you through the beige ones] and once again, it appears that in this case; when you reduce costs, you also reduce the amount of dignity you have left to your name.

I ordered size XLs and they're ridiculously small. Like, I'd need an XXXXXL for these to fit anything like they do in the stock images. They're short, tight and give you unspeakable wedgies on all fronts. They also both have a comedic faux pocket on the arse - why bother? You can't be arsed to thread the belt through, but you've stitched a sh*tty strand of material on the arse to emulate a pocket? Priorities, lads.





So these are the beige monstrosities. Were the black shorts from the other seller any better? 

LOL - as if! If anything, they're worse. You expect a smidge of see-throughness with lighter colours, but not with black. LOL. Here they are, paperthin rather than paperbag - and whoever made them couldn't be arsed to stitch the label in the right way round, for additional giggles.




Of course, the faux arse pocket makes a reappearance


Yeah, it's proper sound to buy totally see through shorts. Cheers eBay

Brace yourselves, guys - my arse is coming. I tried to pull these 'high waisted' shorts down a bit to avoid wedgies of all kinds, but some riding up was inevitable with these pieces of sh*t. This is what they looked like on...







In what way on God's green earth do these look like the photos? Cute, oversized and high-waisted they are clearly not. The only thing high about them is how high they chafe up my arse. 

Conclusion > There's no way on this living earth that these can be classed as 'Paperbag shorts.' They're more like 'Dog-Poo-Bag shorts.' See through, small, wedgie inducing and made of some mad waterproof esque material; these monstrosities have full on disappointed me. Though I don't really know what I expected really - 99% of what I review for this series makes me do a full on vom in my mouth.


If you've got a few quid to spare and fancy a good giggle / feeling like a massive whopper when a size XL is miles too small for you, you can order these shorts all over eBay right now. Though in all honesty, I wouldn't bother like. Spend your hard earned cash on something worthwhile instead; like Bourbon biscuits.


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What are your thoughts? Have you had any epic 'Expectation vs Reality' moments with things you've bought online, or any actually amazing bargains off eBay?


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