Something a little different. (The Milso Tag)

Please excuse the questionable dipdye hair...

So today's post is not beauty related, nor are there no mentions of TV shows or books to be found. Today's post is about something... Well, someone, a lot closer to my heart.

Unless you pay attention to my Instagram posts, you're probably in the dark about the fact that I'm with a military man which makes me a 'milso.' (Military Significant Other.) The milso tag has been floating around the internet for ages and while I haven't actually been tagged, I thought it would be interesting to do.
I actually had an anon question on tumblr about how long the process took Glenn to become part of the forces (around a year if you're wondering), but that question could have been sat in my inbox for a while... I'm completely guilty of going on tumblr purely to reblog the crap out of my OTPs. So sad.

1. What branch of the military is your significant other in?
British army, Queen's Royal Lancers.

2. How long have you been together?
Just gone four years.

3. Did you meet before or after he joined?
Before. We had friends in common but we only started dating when he was already in the process of joining.

4. What is the hardest part of being a milso?
It seems like such an obvious answer, but being apart is definitely the hardest.

5. When will you get to see your military man?
Next weekend. I'm very lucky at the moment, he's home most weekends now that he's based in the UK. He used to be based in North Germany, so this feels so easy now.

6. Do you two have a stable relationship?
We have our odd arguments and tiffs, but I think that's normal for any relationship.

7. Has he ever been deployed?
He spent a few months in Afganistan back in 2014. I cried when I found out he was going.

8. If so, how many times and where?
^^^

9. During deployment, do you struggle with being happy?
We managed to skype quite a bit and while I did feel down sometimes, I have some great friends who definitely picked me up when I needed it.

10. Has your relationship ever ended due to distance?
When he first left for phase one, we went 'on a break' a la Ross & Rachel purely because he didn't know how long it would be before we saw each other or if he would be able to ring me. That break only lasted two days so I'm not even sure if that counts!

11. Uniform or Civilian clothes?
He looks so handsome in his uniform and khakis but I'd go for civvies everytime.

12. Has he given you his dog tags to wear?
Definitely an American thing. Not really applicable here!

13. Do you enjoy dating a man in the military?
Being honest, if he was already a part of the forces when we'd started dating, it probably wouldn't have lasted. I guess the answer to this question is a no...

14. Do you ever wish you met someone who wasn't part of the military?
I did and he became a part of it. By that time, I was determined to keep hold of him, he's my lobster.

15. Do you cherish time with him more now that he's gone so much?
Definitely. But I miss being able to see him everyday.

16. Is he trustworthy and faithful?
Absolutely.

17. Has he ever surprised you with homecomings?
Once when he got back from Afghanistan. I was under the impression I was going to his to see his mum while he was away but it was just a ploy to get me there to surprise me!

18. True or False. Real men wear combat boots.
It's all about the person wearing them, not the shoes on their feet!

19. Are you in love with your military man?
I wouldn't have stuck with him this long if I wasn't!

20. If you could say one thing to him right now, what would it be?
Love you!

A very Titanic themed city break in Liverpool.

At the start of April, the other half and I took a little trip to Liverpool for a city break. We stayed in the Titanic Hotel which is located next to Stanley Dock. I always have the job of picking where we stay, being as I'm a "massive hotel snob." His words, not mine!

Originally I'd looked at 30 James Street, which declares itself as the home of Titanic. And yes, this post is going to mention Titanic a lot! It's something I'm fascinated by and I have a permanent reminder of it on my arm. Anyway, 30 James street is a new-ish hotel which actually resides in the old White Star Line building, something that made me very excited about staying there. Unfortunately there were no rooms available on the dates we wanted, so we instead opted for the Titanic Hotel.

My favourite thing about the hotel were all the canvas prints throughout that were dedicated to Titanic and the White Star Line. This deck plan one particularly pleased me and I spent a good while looking at all the details.

The hotel also has a spa, located below the ground floor. The spa was something we didn't get round to but is open to guests and the public to use. We did however, make use of the bath in our room. We popped into Lush on one of our days there to pick up a bath bomb specially.

The hotel has it's own restaurant, Stanley's Bar & Grill, as well as The Rum Bar. The Rum Bar also serves food and specializes in, what do you know, rum. Afternoon tea is also available. We went out to eat in the evenings, making the most of visiting a couple of chain restaurants that we don't have at home, like Jamie's Italian and Red's True Barbecue. We had room service on our last night there and if the quality of that is anything to go by, then the hotel restaurant would definitely be worth a visit.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum was a must visit on our break, having a whole area dedicated to Titanic. Entrance to the museum is free, with an option to donate money towards the museum itself. The museum was my favourite part of the trip and it has made me look forward to our Belfast trip next year even more.

I was mesmerised by the items that were found in the debris field of the Titanic wreck. To think that these items were on the actual ship and went down with her as she sank, it felt a little haunting being just on the other side of the glass from them.

I would definitely recommend looking into staying at the Titanic hotel if you're planning a visit to Liverpool, it's one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. You can click here to find out more information about the hotel and spa.

Don't forget you can follow me on bloglovin to stay up to date with new posts.
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Liebster Awards.

Thank you to Aimee from Littlemisspiggybeautyx for nominating me. It's taken me a while to get round to this!

Liebster Rules

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.

2. Copy and Paste the Liebster Award badge to your post.

3. Nominate 10 new bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

4. Answer the 10 questions the person who nominated you asked you.

5. Create 10 new questions to ask the bloggers you nominate.

6. Notify the bloggers you have nominated by leaving them a comment on their blog.

My questions to answer

1. Why did you start blogging?Blogs are such a great place to find out about new products, TV shows, books and I had certain blogs I liked reading so I thought I'd give it a go myself.

2. What is your favourite post on your blog? And someone else's?
I think my favourite on my own blog is probably the one I did last month about Book series I've loving. Both of the series that I included aren't too well known and I'd like to think I've helped at least one person discover them. Plus Jessica Grace Coleman, one of the authors, liked the blog post and shared it with her followers.
It's a lot more difficult for me to think of a specific post on someone else's blog. I've discovered so many blogs recently. At the moment, I've been loving WhichBeautyBoxUK's posts on the Look Incredible boxes.

3. What's your favourite blog?
My favourite right now is Beauty By The Bunny.

4. What do you love and loathe most about blogging?
I'm still very new to blogging so at the moment, I don't loathe anything! I love the sense of community though. I'm a very shy person, so I feel like this is a good way to get me out of my shell a bit more.

5. How long have you been blogging?
It's only been about three months so far.

6. If you could meet anyone from the entire world, who would it be?
James Cameron. I have so many documentaries on dives to the Titanic wreck, but I'd love to hear about it in person from him.

7. Which do you prefer most, makeup or fashion?
If I'd been asked this a few years ago, the answer would most definitely be fashion. But now, it's 100% makeup. I'd rather buy high end makeup and stick with clothes from Primark then have to have a smaller makeup budget!

8. What do you love most about the blogging community?
I've not been part of it long, so right now I'd have to say how welcoming everyone is!

9. If you could invent a beauty gadget that doesn't currently exist, what would it be?
This is such a hard question!

... I've been sat here for 15 minutes thinking and I still have nothing.

10. If you had your own fashion/beauty/home interior line, what would you call it?
I like the name BitterSweet for a clothing line. I either like to where dark clothing or pretty dresses so it kind of sums up both moods of my style!

Nominations

1. Shellie Skillen
2. Blended & Beautiful
3. Dat Blog Doe
4. Jemima's World
5. Danielle Bambrook
6. Beautiful Appreciations
7. Riddler's Reviews
8. Lifebeginsmissv
9. Rebeccadianex
10. Pretty Little Things

Nominee's questions

1. When did you start blogging?
2. What are your blogging goals for 2016?
3. What TV shows are you loving at the moment?
4. What makeup brand do you think is underrated?
5. Do you have a set blogging routine?
6. What is your favourite music album right now?
7. What type of blog posts do you enjoy most?
8. What is your all time favourite perfume?
9. What is your favourite blog?
10. What do you wish you'd known before you started blogging?

So, that's that! Thanks for reading and don't forget you can follow me on bloglovin to stay up date on new posts. Bye for now x

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Book Series I've Been Loving Recently.

Since buying a Kindle, I've discovered a lot of new authors and series so I thought I'd share a couple of them with you. The two series that I'm going to mention have had me hooked, as soon as I finished one book, I had to start the next. The last series that got the same reaction from me was the Lux series by Jennifer Armentrout and I read that over a year ago. I'd been trying to find a series that drew me in as much as that did and if you haven't read the Lux series, I definitely recommend checking it out!

Both of these series have supernatural themes running throughout them, but don't automatically jump to the conclusion of 'girl falls for boy, boy is vampire/witch/werewolf'... delete where appropriate! These series are so different from that cliche and that is what makes these series so special.

Little Forest Series By Jessica Grace Coleman.
I read The Former World as it was a free ebook on amazon (though this is not true anymore, unlucky folks.) I made it through all five ebooks in about two weeks. The series centres around Beth Powers and her friends who live in the village of Little Forest in Covershire. Beth is no ordinary girl, she's a gazer, meaning she can see spectres visiting from the former world. Book one sets the series up nicely and every book has it's own mystery. Taking aside the supernatural stuff, the relationships developing throughout the series are written perfectly, including the dynamic of Beth and Will, who I've been rooting for since book one.

If you're interested in checking out this series on kindle, you can get books 1 to 4 in a boxset here. 

Kassidy Bell Series by Lynda O'Rourke.
Drug was the second ever purchase I made on my kindle after buying it last summer. I sped through the first two books pretty quickly, but the third book, Demon, was only released about three weeks ago... And I finished that in a day, I was so eager to read it.
The series starts with a drug trial, or at least that's what the volunteers think they've signed up for. The volunteers are injected with VA20, something they've agreed to to make some easy money, but instead they end up fighting for their lives. The first book is only 99p on Kindle, in fact the whole series so far costs just over £5 which is a complete bargain. I guarantee if you read the first book, you'll be hooked and want to read the rest! 

Cohorted box, February 2016.

February's here, which meant I got my second box from cohorted. Just as pleased with this one as my first box. £35 for the products inside is great value. I'd also subscribed to the Look Incredible box and I got my first box from there this month. I wasn't as impressed with that box as I am with the Cohorted boxes I've had so far. Cohorted have set the standard for subscription boxes pretty high and in my opinion, no other box quite compares. My Look Incredible subscription was cancelled the day I received the box!

Anyway, let's take a look what's inside this month's Cohorted box...

The booklet included says the the value of this month's box is £111.50, however the booklet also includes a product that seems to have been replaced with something else.

There's no Pixi crayon included in the box, despite being in the booklet. I've heard from other subscribers that they've had an e-mail to say that this product will be included in next month's box instead. I haven't had this e-mail, but I'm happy with the product that seemingly replaced this.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eyes Masks (RRP £15)
I've never tried anything like this before so I'm quite excited about these. I also like that 2 packs are included, I can see myself and the boyfriend having a his & hers pamper sesh including these! These are said to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles whilst hydrating the fragile eye area.

BareMinerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment (RRP £45)
Since receiving my box yesturday, I've already added this to my nighttime skincare routine as I was that excited to use it. Even after one use, I can already see a difference so I'm intrigued to see how much my skin improves after repeated use. At the moment, I'd like to think I'd repurchase this, but not with the £45 price tag! I had a quick look on Amazon, where you can buy it for around the £15 mark. This was my first ever product from BareMinerals and I think I might have to check out some more of their products.

Dove True Tone Underarm Dark Mark Eraser (RRP £20?)
This product seems to have replaced the Pixi crayon as this isn't included in the book. I couldn't see anything about it on the dove website so I think this might be a discontinued product. A quick web search shows that Boots sell this for £20 so I'm assuming that's what the RRP would have been, but I could be wrong. This isn't something I necessarily would have bought myself, but now I have it, I'm going to make the most of using it. I was going to save this and use it as summer approached but the expiry date on the bottom of the box is April '16 so that plan went out the window. I guess I'm going to have to use it now!

Cargo Long Wear Lip Gloss (RRP £10)
I love getting lip products in subscription boxes and this month, I got a Cargo lip gloss in the shade Tokyo. It's a bright red (It looks more orangey in the swatch photo) and is highly pigmented. I can't wait to wear it properly!

Marc Jacobs Lola Eau De Parfum (Sample size)
I find sample sizes of perfumes handy just to chuck in my handbag for a one off use. I've only ever tried one other Marc Jacobs perfume before so I had to have a sniff of this before putting it with my other sample perfumes. Nice scent, I like it but I'm not sure I love it enough to go out and purchase a bottle.

Chanel Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow (RRP £25)
My first ever Chanel product! This eyeshadow is in the shade Apparition and it is absolutely stunning! I doubt I'll use the brush that came with it, but I'm going to keep it just because it's oh so cute.

What do you think of this month's box?

Favourite Drugstore Foundations For Pale Skin

If you have a fair complexion, you probably know how difficult it can be to find a foundation that matches your skin tone completely. In my teens, I felt like I was always wearing foundation that was at least two shades darker than what I should've been. At long last, in my very late twenties, I've settled with five foundations that I'm very happy with and they're all very affordable. These are my favourite foundations, that I rotate through pretty regularly.

Rimmel Match Perfection SPF20 in Light PorcelainMy go to foundation, the one that probably gets used the most. Rimmel have outdone themselves on the shade range in their foundations. Light Porcelain is the lightest shade and like the name, it is definitely a perfect match! I'm also a big fan of the Match Perfection concealer too.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Anti-Fatigue Foundation in Light Porcelain
I originally bought this in the shade Ivory, thinking it was the lightest shade as Tesco doesn't stock all the shades in the range. It was only after a trip to Superdrug that I realized my mistake. This one is in the same shade as my Match Perfection foundation but this offers more of glow to the skin. I got up at 4:30am three days of the week so any foundation that promises to wake me up was bound to end up in my makeup collection eventually.

Sleek Makeup Bare Skin Foundation in Shell
I tend to reach for this foundation when I feel like my skin is having a 'good' day, isn't looking too blotchy and I don't need as much coverage. Shockingly for me, this isn't the lightest shade, I think there are about four or so which are lighter than this one. Unfortunately a quick check on the Sleek website has left me in fear that they no longer make this, as the only foundation listed is the powder to creme foundation. Please tell me it isn't so! On the bright side, you can still buy this from amazon, so I may have to pick up another from there while I still can!

The Body Shop Moisture Foundation SPF15 in 04
The most expensive out of all the foundations but still only priced at £13. This is described as ideal for normal to dry skin, and I tend to save this foundation for when my skin is feeling more dry, especially around my nose. I've been really impressed with this foundation \and want to try more of The Body Shop's makeup range, especially the Fresh Nude Foundation.

Makeup Academy Undress Your skin Illuminating Foundation in Porcelain
A spontaneous purchase during a browse on the Makeup Academy website, I have come to LOVE this foundation. I picked this up for £4 last summer and it sat unused in my makeup collection until October. I'll hold my hands up and admit that I only bought it to use as a travel foundation, as the squeezy tube is much more ideal than the bottles with pumps. I hadn't expected a lot from foundation, what with such a small price tag, but the surprise I felt was very welcome. The coverage of this is insane, I can't recommend it enough. If you haven't tried this foundation yet, definitely pick it up next time you're in superdrug. You can also get it from the Makeup Academy website for only £3 at the moment.
... And you get 5ml more in this than all the other four foundations!

What's your favourite drugstore foundation at the moment?

Cargo Vintage Escapes palette

A browse of the beauty section of the TKMaxx website led to a spontaneous purchase which I'm extremely happy with. While showing restraint and holding back on adding some single Nars eye shadows and the balm products to my basket, I did pick up the Cargo Vintage Escape palette. 

I know this palette was in a cohorted box sometime last summer, when the monthly boxes were still on a first come, first served basis.

This palette has an RRP of £35 but TKMaxx were selling it for £7.99. I didn't even need to think twice about buying it.

The palette is packaged in a leather casing, giving it a super sleek look and the shades inside the palette are gorgeous. I can already tell from a quick couple of swatches, that cinnamon is going to be my favourite shade!

Cohorted box, January 2016.

After seeing the contents of December's box, I caved into joining Cohorted's subscription for their monthly beauty box. For those who haven't heard of this service, it costs £35 per month and that includes postage too. All the products included in the box are full size and are all brands that you would have heard of. The total value of the box always equals more than the amount you pay, so while it may seem somewhat pricey when compared to the likes of Glossybox or Birchbox, it is definitely worth the price.

There was a bit of a delay on this month's box and I was already impatient with it being my first box. But oh, it was so worth the wait.


I was disappointed to see no booklet included but the fact that this was missing, was explained in an e-mail cohorted sent out to their subscribers.

So, onto the products included...

Lancome Le Correcteur Pro (RRP £29.50)
I forget to take a photo of this product on it's lonesome. I got excited by the other three items. I have a love/hate relationship with concealers. The majority tend to give me an itchy rash on my undereyes, however this wasn't always the case. It only started after I used a Collection branded concealer and it seemed to set off a chain reaction with every other concealer I dared to use too. The only brand I can wear without this happening is Rimmel (good, old Rimmel! What would I do without you?) So, even though this concealer palette could turn out to be a diamond in the rough for me, I daren't risk it. Not to mention, everyone got sent the same shade, and it turned out to be too dark for my fair complexion anyone. It promptly got passed along to a friend!

Too Faced Soulmates Blushing Bronzer in Carrie & Big (RRP £28)
I was gutted I'd missed out on this in December's box in the shade Ross & Rachel, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this in January's box. I know some people weren't happy about this, seeing it as a repeat product and I know that some people actually got this shade in their December box!
The packaging to beautiful and definitely reminds of all the Polly Pockets I had as a child.
All the blushers I currently own are very pink so I'm excited to play around with this, the coral blush is such a gorgeous colour.

(Did anyone else think Aidan was a better choice for Carrie? Just me...? Damn.)

Too Faced Lip Injection Color Bomb in Plump It Up Pink (RRP £19)
This is definitely my fave product in this month's box. It comes in four shades and I got it in this lovely bright pink colour. Having seen other blogger's boxes, I would have been even more pleased with the berry shade but I still love this one. This is one of those lip plumpers, the obligatory tingle is their on application. It says on the box to only apply to lips and my god, I wish I had! I swatched this on the back of my hand without thinking and while I can tolerate the sensation on my lips, it wasn't pleasant on my hand.
It has a sweet, sickly scent that might not be to everyone's taste but it reminds me of the strawberry shortcake doll I used to have. Basically, this box is bringing out all the nostalgia in me.

Too faced has always been a brand I've wanted to try more of, so I'm very satisfied with this addition.

Cargo Lip Gloss Quad in Argentina (RRP £15)
I've never tried any Cargo products so I'm looking forward to getting to grips with this.  As you can tell from the photo, I've already tried one of the glosses and it came out really pigmented on my lips. I'll probably get the most use from the two darker glosses. This is a really nice addition to my makeup collection.


What did you think to this month's box? Were Cohorted wrong to include another Too Faced blushing bronzer in this box? I'd be interested in finding out what other people think!