What's In My Primark Handbag? My Daily Essentials.

I have seen a lot of these posts flying about on YouTube and seeing as I haven't got a new camera yet, I thought I would do a written version instead. 

I hope you don't mind? :) 

The above bag is from Primark and this was featured in my Primark haul which you can find here.

I love this bag, it looks a lot more expensive than it was (well I think it does anyway) and it doesn't really look like a Primark creation either. It literally goes with everything I wear. I have a teeny obsession with bags and purses. If I buy a new bag I have to find a purse that goes with it and visa versa. 

Today ladies you will see what I carry around on a daily basis and what I call my 'essentials'. It can get pretty heavy in there, let me tell you. 

So here we goooooooo!!! 

Oooohh!! Sneak peak of what's inside! 

Can you tell I just chuck it in?! Whoops. 

The most important thing in my bag is my purse for obvious reasons. It has everything in there. The whole of the contents in my bag is highly important but where would we be without our purses 'aye? 

I have had this purse sat on my dressing table for like a year now because I had used my last one to death. And I love this one even more so. It's so girly and sparkly and the patent effect really brings out the glitter. It was from Claire's Accessories at around £12-£14. 

I Love how my account number and sort code are showing. I didn't see that!! Ha, feel free to put some money in guys! JOKES. 

The layout of the inside. I rarely carry money on me because I spend it. 

This is my new little notebook & pen that I brought the other week as I go through my notebooks more than I brush my hair. I am constantly writing notes. I love it... Writing notes that is. This picture makes the notebook look more red than it is. It is actually a burgundy colour but Blogger seems to change the colours and exposure quite a bit on upload and I don't know why. Anyway this little book comes everywhere with me so I can write my blogging notes down on ideas for my next posts. 

Ha ha, yes what you see before your eyes is a bunch of snotty tissue!!! (Not really this lot hasn't been used... Yet) 

Due to having reeeeeeeaaaallly bad hay fever I have to carry A LOT of tissue around because I am constantly sneezing and my nose just pours out like Niagara Falls. It is so not attractive, and it really bugs me because I end up wiping half of my make up off. *sobs*

So this is definitely an essential for me to have in my bag, I just never know when I am going to be caught out.

Mother Nature is a pure bitch. Fact. 

  

To coincide with the tissue here are my 'meds', bloody hay fever meds and currently they are doing jack to help me. I used to really rate the tablets as they are like 180mg which are strong and I used to be on 10mg and they used to work. This year, not so much. And they have changed the steroid nasal spray too. The only thing that actually works is the eye drops for my hay fever eyes, but they god damn sting. Anywho, they are locked to my bag I will always need these in the summer. 

 Yup, next we have my sunnies and my car keys. I got a new car (a 10 plate, practically brand new black Corsa Energy) and then I got made redundant. Ha. That will serve me right for getting rid of Rusty (my old car, this one is called Brian after the lead singer of my FAVOURITE BAND EVER Placebo. If you haven't heard of them, go check them out. They are amazing). Nonetheless I love my shiny car and you will find both of these swimming amongst my crap in my handbag. 

Floating around are my 13' Christmas vouchers and some money from my nan, I haven't spent it yet. Well the voucher I did. I brought an awesome pineapple cup (which you can see on my Instagram account: anythingbutordinaryleya) from New Look but it was broken when I inspected it properly at home, and they didn't have another one in store. So it currently has like £6 on the card. 

I carry these around in case I need them. :) 

Here she is... My makeup bag. Again I have written a blog post about this and you can find that here.

I obviously carry this beaut around as I constantly need to touch up my makeup thanks to my hay fever face. I swap and change what I carry around day to day but this is another permanent to my handbag.

I love my Ipod and I love music. This is an essential! Excuse the dirty headphones, my makeup constantly transfers onto them. I have had this Ipod for like 10 years I swear, I had it free with a mobile phone contract I took out. You don't get that these days. But yeah, I need this for journeys, or for blocking people and the world out for a while.

I don't really need to explain these. 

My back-combing combs. The pink one from Primark £1 and the black one is a hairdressing one. Simple, must-haves in my bag.

Yup, I have carex, who doesn't in their handbag? You don't know what you're touching out there guys. Keep clean! I use this stuff to death because I handle my hamsters, then my guinea pig and then my dog. I use it after touching each one so not to spread germs. And before I eat obvz. Then Vaseline for dry lips and my roll on deodorant for those 'hot' times. I don't use sprays any more as my animals inhale it. 

I always carry a mirror. I am not amazingly vain but I do have to check everything is tip top with my face. My mum and dad brought me this from H M Samuel a few Christmases ago and I use this one on special occasions. As I am clumsy and will probably break it. It's super pretty.  

 This is pure jokes. It's a fluffy monster phone protector!!! I love this! When I worked at Claire's Accessories I wanted this so much as it was cute. So my brother got it me as one of my gifts for Christmas last year!!! He has to go in now and then.

And that's it guys. The tour is over. My handbag is completely empty.

If you enjoyed scrolling through this post leave me a cheeky comment or give me a subscribe. I am pretty scarce on both of those. 

What do you carry in your handbag? 

♥

Primark Kimono & More Lush Bath Bombs.

Before I begin, I would like to apologise for my picture quality on this post.

They are a little grainy due to poor lighting as we occurred a horrible little storm when I took these photos. 

I seriously need a DSLR but that isn't happening straight away so I am trying my best with what I have. 

I will state, that I LOVE to take photo's and I love to edit them too, I just don't have the amazing equipment that most of the 'cool' bloggers have. :( 

I hope that's okay? :)

Lets get started!

I went into town with my parents again Friday as I needed to grab Cody's (my guinea pigs) fruit and veg and decided to have a look around the shops whilst I was there. And since I am currently jobless it is killing me walking around the shops because I am wanting everything that is in there. Girl problems. 

I originally went into town to see if I could upgrade my phone at Phones 4 U, but their prices and tariffs are stupidly high. So I thought I would just leave it until my contract ends. 

It's not worth the trouble in the long run!

So, after visiting there I went into Primark. I tried on a couple of t-shirts and some jumpers and I didn't like any of them or the fit in particular. I made my way down to the bag section (my favourite isle) and to the left of me something caught my eye. 

It was a black knitted kimono with tassels. 

I was like "YES". Finally I have found one I like. 

I tried on a size medium and a size large as I like my clothes at the moment to be kind of baggy and boyish. I ended up going for the medium as the large was a little overwhelming and engulfed me to say the least. Plus it seemed a lot heavier than the medium. 

I had no one to take the picture. You want a job done... Do it yourself. 

 Ha, I took that picture in my parent's room as the lighting was way better than in mine. The kimono is the right length and you can't go wrong with black as it goes pretty much with everything you own. 

Well, most of the clothes I own are black. I really need to change it up. 

I love the Boohoo Kimono that I featured in my 'Wish List' post earlier in the month as it had splashes of floral colour and well, was more interesting to look at than this one. 

BUT...

This Primark Kimono is a complete steal at £14 and the quality isn't that bad considering it's from there. I find sometimes with their products that they can be of poor quality and actually quite expensive for what it is. I am very picky when it comes to spending my money in Primarni. I have a good eye for detail and getting value for money so I tend to walk out of there with nothing at all. That said, they can sometimes have some great pieces and this item is one of them.

The hang.

This kimono is great to wear in the summer and ties in nicely with the festival season. But I think this would also wear nicely in the fall and winter, teamed with some jumper layering. 

I would like to add, that whilst coming out of Primark I got caught in a rain shower and got SOAKED. My Primark bag almost fell apart and I was running like Phoebe from Friends.

If you don't know what I am on about YouTube it and you will see what I mean. Too funny. 

Before I left the town, I HAD to pop into Lush again as I feel like I owed it to myself as I am that stupid and didn't realise we had one. I don't know where I have been for all of these years. 

Not in the real world. That's for sure!

And I picked up these bath bombs that were on my MUST HAVE list. 

'Think Pink' bath bomb. 

'Butterball' bath bomb

Each of these bath bombs were £2.50 which I think is pretty good and I cannot wait to use them!! The 'Think Pink' bomb apparently has heart shaped confetti inside so when it hits the water they explode into your bath. I am actually quite excited about using this one. And the 'Butterball' bomb is meant to be good for sensitive skin, which I have, so I hope it makes my skin feel nice after using it. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my little purchases. 

And if you liked it give me a follow. Or even subscribe.

Over and out. 

♥

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How to Hair: 6 Easy Steps to Surfer Style Beach Waves

Performance shot - making waves. 

This season is all about experimenting with your hair, the simpler the better and that's cool with me. I love the whole 'bed head' unkempt, minimal effort kind of styles at the moment.

 My hair is actually naturally blonde and I used to bleach it a lot for a few years until I went on a television show and they completely ruined my hair by back-combing the hell out of it until one side snapped off completely. Naturally I was devastated and thought it was time to go dark. Now I look like a bloody vampire. Ha ha. (Don't worry I am planning on going back to a 'natural' blonde pretty soon!) The point I am trying to get at is that I am trying to get my hair into a nicer state than it currently is, as it has been through a lot, so I don't straighten my hair and only blow dry it once a week if that. The hair style I have been loving and have spotted a lot of celebrities fashioning is the surfer style, beach waves. It looks super laid back and so effortless I am a massive fan! It is natural looking and it doesn't matter what you are wearing or what makeup you have on the hair goes with everything. Even better in my eyes. 

So, I have put together a 'how to' post on how you too can achieve this look yourselves and it is sooo easy!! Trust me. I have been doing it a lot, even when I had blonde hair...

Ignore my awful 'selfie' but how awesome does the hair look?!

 Okay so here it is, pay attention. :) 

Step 1:
I find the style holds better with just washed and blow dried hair. I use L'oréal Elvive Full Restore (5) shampoo and conditioner to help with the condition of my hair as it's colour damaged. So shampoo, condition and blow-dry. But before you blast your hair you need to add some key products.

Step 2:
Comb your hair through with a 'wide toothed comb' like the ones that they use at the hairdressers. The reason for this is because you reduce breakage by using a comb as using a brush will damage your hair (I used to work at a few hairdressers). It takes a little longer to comb through, but it will be worth it in the end as it will be less knotty. 

Step 3: 
Now you need to add your product. I tend to use a thickening product in my hair first to give extra body and volume to my hair. I already have quite thick hair but it is also fine and I find my hair 'drops' really quickly. So if you're anything like me you will love this product, and it is TIGI Catwalk's volume collection in 'Your Highness' and it's a thickening gel. It looks like this if you want to purchase it. Oh, and it lasts AGES!! 

You can get it from your local hairdressers at around £10

I use around 2-3 pumps of this product in my hair, the first two pumps concentrating on my root area and the third pump in my length and ends and comb through so it's spread evenly. This product achieves fullness and awesome manageability. I have tried so many thickening products but this is by far the best and lasts until your next wash. You do need to blow dry the product in though and don't put too much in one concentrated place as it makes the hair sticky. 

Step 4:

Next, if you have damaged hair like me or you just want to keep it in good condition I would recommend Moroccanoil treatment (light). I put this in after the thickening gel and I spread it generously through the length and ends and sparingly around the root area. You don't want greasy roots now do you?! I think this product works super good and it leaves my hair feeling amazing afterwards, and I actually found my hair grew a lot quicker whilst using this product. The only downside is that this product has a hefty price tag and retails at around £30 in the UK. I have been told there are other alternatives such as Argon Oil which is a lot cheaper and you can get it practically in any shop. I actually saw some today at £1.50, but I have never used it so I am unsure to whether it will be as good as the Moroccanoil. 

If any of you have used the Argon Oil let me know what you think of it!! You can get Moroccanoil at most hairdressers and the bottle lasts a long time. I have used mine so I am on to a mini sample bottle but this is what you are looking for. 

The £30 bottle contains a pump and is a lot larger than this. 

Step 5:

This last product I sometimes use for this style but I find it can be quite drying on my hair, so don't use it often. But never the less this product does what it says on the tin and it is Lee Stafford's Beach Babe Salt Spray. It contains Dead Sea salts and 26 minerals, and leaves your hair with the 'just got out of the sea' feel, minus the bits of seaweed and sand. 
I tend to spray around 5-10 pumps of the product onto my hair and then rough it up a little. You can get this product in stores like Superdrug and Boots in the UK and Boots are currently having a 3 for 2 offer at the moment and this product is £7.99. Like I said I don't always use this, it just depends whether you are wanting a more smooth or rough/dry textured finish. 

You can spray this into dry hair too. :)

Step 6:

Finally, this is where the fun bit begins. Once all of your chosen products are safely thrown into your hair blast your hair off with the hair dryer. There is no need for a fancy blow-dry (as this defeats the whole style process)and then set up this bad boy...

www.argos.co.uk

Yes, that's right this is the magical machine that will transform your hair into a mystical mermaid's. I have this exact waving machine and it is frickin awesome!!! It's called Andrew Barton- Making Waves Triple Barrel Hair Waver. It's from Argos in the UK (unsure if you have this shop around the world?) and it's currently priced at £24.89, and it's ideal for creating the beachy/festival look. It heats up to a nice 180 degrees and has 10 temperature settings and also cools very quickly. This is a must have product for all you ladies who are a bit Indy/Boho or even if you want to try something new like I did. 

You literally section your hair off and the amount of hair you chose to wave in each section is up to you. Experiment. I tend to do bigger sections and the odd smaller one to shake it up a little and make it more natural. You do this around your whole head and this is what each section will look like. 

Move the barrel down each section of hair to create the wave.

And that's it, it's literally that simple to create this look and your hair looks amazing either up or down. I have a lot of hair, and if you do too, be prepared to be working on your hair for up to an hour. With that said, it equals out as it will stay like this until your next wash. Low maintenance or what!!  

Excuse the state of my room!! 

As an added tip, if you want to add more volume to your finished surfer chick style then this is the product to use. It's Batiste Dry Shampoo and I get it in 'a hint of colour - dark & deep brown. It comes in different fragrances and ones for blonde and dark hair. It also has an one that is specifically for volume and that works wonders (it's called Volume XXL). The one pictured is just to refresh hair and not to volume a such. Currently it is £3.99 in superdrug for a 200ml can. Go grab it it's a steal. A must have product!!

I hope you liked my 'how to' blog post today?! It would be a lot easier posting this as a tutorial on my YouTube channel but currently I don't have a really good camera to film it on. :( 

If any of you try this out for yourselves send me your pictures or even comment so I can see how you guys have achieved the look. 

Thanks for reading ♥ 

D.I.Y Studded Leather Jacket Tutorial

I don't really like to follow trends and I tend to just wear what I feel looks right on me. I do however need to inject some colour into my life as I mainly wear a lot of monotone. You know, the usual black, white and grey. Some consider it 'boring' whilst I think of it as flattering! Anyway, this is besides the point. 

We all love to unleash our creative side, whether it's in fashion, beauty or just life in general and what better way than to express it in the clothes we wear. And I am going to show you how to D.I.Y a studded leather jacket. :)    

Yes, you heard me... LET'S GET CREATIVE!! Now, what I am about to show you is super easy to achieve but can be a little time consuming if you want it to look half decent! And man, seriously it is really cost effective and the result is frickin awesome!! 

See I told you!!! 

This was an ordinary H&M leather jacket which I brought a while back and cost around £30. ( I will link everything I have used at the end of this blog for you to go and have a gander). I didn't want to go over the top so I only customised the 'flapper' bits (I don't know the technical name for it. Ha)but it gave the jacket an edge and separates it from the rest. Plus it looks mega fierce when teamed with some leather trousers and a casual tee! 

This is what you need guys...

A leather punch, screw studs and of course your jacket. 

 

It is literally that simple. All you need to do then is work your magic - Punch a hole where you want the stud and screw into place. Studded jackets are actually quite pricey online and this is why I ended up customising my own as I can make it as OTT as I wanted and it would be unique to me. It's a sure fire way to get noticed and to punk up an outfit.

I used flat back screw studs.
This is how it should look. 

And this is out the outcome  ♥

Result: A jacket no one else will have. :)

So there you have it, my little D.I.Y customising tutorial. Go crazy on your clothes!! 

Toodlepip X

LINKS

• Revolving leather hole punch £1.95 (Ebay) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REVOLVING-LEATHER-HOLE-PUNCH-PLIER-PUNCHER-LEATHER-BELT-CUT-EYELET-/150748964400?pt=UK_Crafts_Leathercraft_LE&hash=item231956a630

• 100 x metal punk studs £0.99 + (Ebay) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100x-Metal-Punk-Studs-Spikes-Leathercraft-Bag-Belt-Clothes-Rivet-Craft-Decor-DIY-/190903621416?pt=UK_Crafts_Leathercraft_LE&var=&hash=item2c72be1728

• Biker Jacket £29.99 (similar style to mine) (H&M) http://www.hm.com/gb/product/21072?article=21072-A