Barmouth

Hello!
As always I am late writing up this post. Ah well.
On the 12th we decided to make the most of the sunsine and Stu's time off to go to Barmouth for the day. If you didn't know Barmouth is a seaside resort in West Wales, in the county of Gwynedd. I've been there loads of times as we used to holiday in Shell Island which is just a few miles away from there.
Anyways, after about an hour and fifteen mins on the road we arrived. Parking took a while but we finally found a spot way down the front- it was heaving! We went to get some lunch first and being at the seaside, it had to be fish and chips! We went to the Carousal Cafe (or 'Arousal' - they have a joke sign where the C has slipped) which isn't the best there but was pretty quiet at least. I believe The Mermaid fish bar is the best chippy but I bet the queues would have been long. Service was slow but the food was fine and filled a hole! After lunch we found a spot on the beach to sit and relax. The beach right near the front, opposite the kiosks and fair and whatnot, was pretty packed but we walked a bit further down where it was much less busy. It felt good to lie down and feel the sun on my skin. Though next time I'll have to remember to bring two towels- it was a bit of a squeeze trying to share one and Stu didn't want to get sandy!
A while later we went to get ice cream, as I couldn't go to Barmouth without getting my usual ice cream and doughnut from the kiosk outside the Silly Shilling gift shop- I'm not sure of the name! In any case it was really good and I polished it off very quickly. We then had a little walk around and Stu bought a giant tennis ball for his parents puppy as well as a mint choc chip ice cream for himself.
I then had a little paddle, which felt amazing in the heat, and we made the long walk back to the car along the beach. I had a really lovely time and I'm glad I finally got to go to the beach this summer as it was on my to do list. Hopefully I'll get to go to another one before I have to go back to work. If the weather holds up that is!

An old nail file I had in my bag proved to be a good sculpting tool!

Have you visited Barmouth? What beaches do you reccomend? 

My Birthday!

 Last Sunday (the 9th) was my 26th birthday and I had an absolutely lovely time. We started the day off nice and early to make the most of it, and after opening my presents (I loved everything but highlights were definitely the Sabrina boxset and a new pair of sheepskin boots, my last pair were literally falling apart!) we set off to Ikea with a quick visit to McDonalds for breakfast en route. I do love an Ikea trip and we hadn't been for a while, so the need to buy some random tut was pretty high! We usually go to the one in Wednesbury but this time we went to the Warrington branch. It was very busy, as always, but we still managed to get a good amount of miscellaneous items! Such items included candle holder, plastic bag dispenser and a cushion for my new cover. Oh and a pretty orchid. After a speedy lunch of  meatballs, a hotdog and a cinnamon roll we set off to Chester for some more shopping at the Greyhound Retail Park. I bought quite a bit at the big B&M store there. I'd not been before and it was huge in comparison to the one here in Oswestry. This is probably sounding very boring but I love a bargain shop! Other shops I visited were 99p stores and TK Maxx so I was happy!

Stu didn't approve but how could I resist these! Plus we did actually need new oven gloves.

Stu doesn't like this either as owls don't tweet. But it's cute.  So I don't care :P 

Only £2.49 compared to £6.99 at Boots. This is the shade Little Minx and they did a nude one too .

Pretty orchid! Also, got a lot of cute dog cards this year! 

We had a table booked at La Tasca for 5.30 so we headed back into the city centre to have a drink beforehand. After a bit of a stressful time for Stu finding parking (we eventually managed to park for free so it all worked out well!) we went to Pitcher and Piano. I had my fave Cosmo and Stu had a lovely passion fruit cooler. I hadn't had one in ages and it went down a treat! La Tasca was a bit disappointing however, as we were sat right at the end of a table with a family on it and opposite a couple with a rather noisy baby so it didn't feel like we could talk properly. The food was rather average too, and not as good as the last time I went, but we had a 40% off code so it was reasonably priced at least! I still really enjoyed the beef and cannellini bean empanadas though as well as the slow cooked pork cheeks with skinny fries. Stu chose the latter and I was pleasantly surprised- I wouldn't have ordered it myself but I think I will if I ever go again.
Afterwards we stopped off at a pub alongside the canal and Stu treated me (well he treated me all day, tbf) to another cocktail. This time I chose a strawberry daiquiri and it was pretty good, if a little strong! I was feeling a little sleepy and full by this time so we headed off home to watch Monsters University and have my chocolate orange birthday cake which Stu made. It was so so good and I definitely went to bed feeling as though I could pop!

Primark PS... Velvet Matte Lipstick Crayon

I bought this on a whim the other day whilst quickly perusing the beauty section. I hadn't seen these before and I do love a lipstick crayon. I think there were 3 shades available though I can only remember two! This one which is 'Nude' and a 'Pink' one (very imaginative names!) which I may also have to get. The third may have been a red but I really don't know. At £2 I thought it was worth a try, particularly as I don't have many matte shades. I chose Nude as it seemed to be the most natural colour. It wasn't too brown and had enough pink it it to be wearable for me. I've only tried it on for an hour or so yesterday but so far I'm impressed. It has a lovely soft texture that makes it easy to apply and it really is matte. I will say that your lips need to be pretty smooth to get the best out of this. Mine were a little chapped yesterday and it did highlight the fact! It also has a pleasant vanilla like scent which a lot of brands seem to have. I will be trying this out again on a day when my lips are in better condition, but for £2 I can definitely say they are worth a try.
The pictures make the packaging look more pink but the swatch is more accurate.

Have you tried these? What are your thoughts? 

Simple Micellar Cleansing Water

I was lucky enough to win 2 bottles of this a while back in a Twitter giveaway. I gave one to my sister and kept one for myself to try. I've tried a few different brands now and I have to say that there really isn't a lot between them. This was one of the more gentle ones though- it didn't sting my eyes and it didn't have a strange after scent (sort of soil like, just me?) like the Garnier one did! Whilst it was gentle it was still really effective at taking everything off and my skin wasn't left feeling dry or sticky. I tend to use cleansing waters at night when I'm too tired to wash my face properly and I did go through a long phase of using just this. I then had a breakout on my chin so I stopped using this for a while and went back to using a cleansing balm. I'm not entirely sure whether it was this that caused the spots- more likely it was the fact that my skin wasn't getting a deep enough cleanse. I will probably buy this again if I see it on offer though I will try not to rely on it too much! It's also quite a small bottle so I did seem to go through it very quickly. Still, I would recommend this.