Nights Out/In & girly things

I have been very well behaved when it comes to clean eating and going to boot camp 3 times a week, apart from a little treat at the weekends. Which lets face it – I’d be lying if I said I was going to deprive myself of. A couple of weekends ago I sorta had a BIG treat before I started my healthy eating and fitness routine properly. Call it a ‘last supper’ if you may…

Pizza goodness right there. Me, Greig, Leah and my flatmates had a brilliant night in with Pizza Hut takeaway and a copy of Casino Royale courtesy of Costa Bingo. It was Gary’s birthday so we also ate cake and played Bingo! As you do.

I handed out all the bingo cards and counters and it was only a matter of minutes before everyone started getting hyper and competitive. Manners and following game rules seems to go out of the window when a bunch of 20 somethings gather around the living room table haha. We were just a couple of balls away from having a winner when Greig thought it would be funny to pop a party popper over my head. I got the biggest fright and jumped while holding onto the bingo set and the balls went flying EVERYWHERE. Dexter did have fun is helping us gather them back together though.

With such a busy start to the year work wise, I have really been savoring any cosy nights in I manage to have with John or my friends. On the flip side I’ve been enjoying some great night’s out too, and have been through to Edinburgh a couple of times already in January. The first trip was for a blogger evening at Hard Rock Cafe for the launch of Benefit’s newest product, Fine One One.

I will never grow tired of Benefit’s overall image and packaging design. We had a great night at Hard Rock chatting about the new product, eyebrow ettiquette, plus other makeup and all things girly. Topped off with cocktails and mini food samplers from the Hard Rock menu.

There was also a Benefit based quiz and I won a ‘they’re real’ mascara. My first experience of ever wearing mascara was actually nabbing my mums ‘bad gal lashes’ by Benefit out of her makeup bag. I had some outfit pictures to take before a gig in town so thought I would take my new makeup goodies on a test drive. I have not had any new makeup to play with in absolutely ages.

Fine one one retails at £23.50, and is a sheer brightening colour for lips and cheeks. I found it perfect for highlighting and adding a dewy finish to my makeup. I used it as a cream blusher, with the lighter colour highlighting down my nose. Since that day I’ve kept it in my bag when I’m out and about because it works well as a combo product to add a fresh ‘pop’ to your makeup during the day. Great for mornings when I’m on a rush to get out the door for work, and it looks lovely on the lips too. Thumbs up from me! I am also enjoying using ‘they’re real’ every morning too, works a treat and I actually really love the plastic applicator wand. However my biggest bug when it comes to mascara is how quickly they dry out. So time will tell and that’s always ultimately the deciding factor for me (because I’ve luckily already got curly and long-ish lashes to begin with)

It was more girly times for me at the weekend after a surprise dinner with my best girl Gemma who has just had a baby, and is looking absolutely amazing. I drove home after the dinner to get changed and head out in the South side of town with my flatmate Katrina and a few of the girls. Katrina is moving to South Korea for a year to teach English next month. This girl is like a sister to me, I will miss her so much. We have watched each other grow up through some very important years together and I want to give Katrina as many awesome memories as possible to take away with her 🙂

Start of night photograph vs end of night photograph – I think the latter ones are always my favourite.

Ayden x