This week's paint: Berrylicious

After having discovered the brand nearly three years ago in a drugstore in Spain, I have loved every single thing about Lola nail polishes... except for their tendency to chip pretty much as soon as the final coat has dried. I've had this colour on for just over two days and it's yet to chip (even after a crazy day running around London, hopping on and off tube trains left, right and centre!), so I know I'm now living on borrowed time, but I hope I'll be able to enjoy complete nail coverage for at least a few hours more. I'll let you know how that works out.

The fact that these polishes chip so quickly is kind of upsetting (it sounds lame, I know) because honestly, this line of polishes simply cannot be matched; the name choices, the variety and beauty of the colours, the packaging, the formula, everything makes it a total winner - making it more than worthy of its £8 price tag (it costs less in Spain though, bummer!).

The size of the brush makes the polish so easy to apply and if you're like me, a twenty year old who is still unable to apply nail varnish neatly and instead gets it everywhere, this brush really helps to keep it on just your fingernail, meaning you can paint without worry - super handy!

The formula is also so great that you only really need one coat. I usually apply two out of habit, as well as the fact that I like my colour to really hold, but you can definitely get away with less if you're in a hurry.

Berrylicious isn't exactly the most summery of colour choices; I know, I'm so rebellious (plus, I can never be sure if it really is summer in Britain, you know what I'm talking about) but I really love how striking this colour is and I feel like it works for any occasion, and c'mon, who can resist anything with 'ultra shine' in the title?

You can buy 'Berrylicious' and shop the entire Lola Make Up range at M&S and online here!

~ Eleanor xo

Saying "au revoir" to university and a general life update

To quote one of the best american television shows of all time (and one I feel did not deserve to ever be cancelled), 'Pushing Daises', "the facts were these...":

1. I have officially finished university forever, for good, for always, never to be revisited again (assuming I pass all my assignments that is. Gulp.)
2. I am going to take on the big bad world of grown-uphood.
3. I am a teeny-tiny bit terrified out of my mind.
4. Only a teeny-tiny bit.
5. That's a lie.

So now you've got the general gist on just where I am with my life ('panic attack central', if you want the technical name for it), I feel I probably should've started with a "Hello! I know it's been a thousand years but yes, I am still around". How are you, how's life, what's been happening?

If you've been sitting in front of your laptop for the last few months weeping to yourself because this blog looks like a metaphorical wasteland, where digital tumbleweeds roll past every so often (that's not a thing, but it totally should be), I am here to wipe away those tears and to birth some exciting news! Soz about using the word 'birth' in this context, feels a bit weird, doesn't it?

So what's been happening I don't hear you ask! Well, what hasn't been happening?! No seriously, I've spent so long cooped up inside writing my dissertation that I have fully lost all grip on reality and how to function as a normal human being. Absolutely no idea what day it is, or, following the recent election mumbo-jumbo, who is in fact, in control of the country.

I'm just kidding, I know it's still Dave - though he has full control now so if he starts decreeing we all send our kids off to a reaping for a Hunger Games style event, I'm shipping myself off to Peru. (I've chosen Peru because I just watched the Paddington film and it looks like a delightful place!)

But I digress; as this new updated layout hopefully conveys, there have been some changes happening around here. Namely, I now have the time to actually devote to doing this whole blogging thing justice. And that's what I'm going to try to do. (See earlier: "exciting news").

So here I am, inviting you to hop aboard the Eleanor-train and come along with me to face the triumphs, trials and tribulations of life as a (soon-to-be) advertising graduate, who spends most waking moments fighting the urge to squander her minuscule life savings on a one-way ticket to Paris. And the remaining waking moments on attempting to become Jennifer Lawrence.

I hope you enjoy the ride. And I hope I do too.
Opa!
~ Eleanor xo

Things I would rather do than write a dissertation

~Inspired by this post, from 'I Wore Yoga Pants To Work'. She's hilarious and just gets it~

In case you weren't already aware, I am in the midst of writing the world's greatest dissertation. Not even I believe that, but I am writing a dissertation so that part is true. As surprising as I know you'll find this, dissertation writing is an excruciatingly awful experience and I kind of want to cry all the time. 

What I once thought was going to be the coolest thing ever to write ten-thousand words about, has become the absolute bane of my life. I no longer care why brands use social media and frankly, I wish they'd stop so I wouldn't have to write any more about it.

Last week my lecturer told me to do with my dissertation what I felt was best because after all, it's "my baby". How twisted is that!? That's enough to get teenage pregnancies down for real. Something inside me told me not to reply "well, I deeply regret having this baby and I'd like to give it back, please and thank you". In all honesty, I don't think a real baby would be as needy as this thing is - the hours I have to devote to keeping it happy! The tantrums it throws when I don't format things correctly or type too fast. It's a nightmare. And the lack of sleep? Don't even get me started.

What would I rather do than read five-hundred page research method textbooks and write ten-thousand words? Anything. Literally anything. But more specifically:

1. Attempt to untangle my iPhone headphones after they've been stuffed in my bag all day
2. Have a conversation with Justin Bieber where neither of us is allowed to use the word "swaggy"
3. Shave my legs every single day
4. Listen to someone tell me why voluntary gluten-free living is the future 
5. Talk to my parents about sex. Just to give you some perspective, my dad calls it "bonking"
6. Listen to a song where the lyrics simply repeat my least favourite word over and over
7. Get stopped at every single red traffic light when I'm already late for something
8. Be cast as "the unattractive friend" in some kind of advertising commercial
9. Be cast as someone who has a problem with their 'intimate area' in some kind of advertising commercial
10. Buy tampons on a day where all the people working in the store are seventeen-year-old males 
11. Walk around blissfully unaware that I have toilet roll stuck to my shoe 
12. Scroll through my Facebook News Feed to find it full of engagement posts, while in a fight with my boyfriend
13. Comfort someone who's going through some kind of crisis that I can in no way relate to
14. Have my phone volume permanently on 'loud' and change the ringtone to "S&M" by Rihanna
15. Sit in a room for an hour with twenty cats. *shudders*
16. Get nail polish remover in a cut on my hand
17. Have the god-awful woman who does the voice-over for the Spotify adverts narrate my entire day
18. Be lectured on why I should absolutely not shake my booty to that "Blurred Lines" song
19. Give a dramatic reading of the exchange of texts that ended my last relationship
20. Tell people via my blog that I got dumped by text. Nailed it.
21. Upload a slideshow of every Snapchat I've ever sent onto Facebook

I was also considering including "watch someone snap all of my High School Musical DVD's and CD's in half", but I don't think I'm quite that desperate. Yet.

To everyone who is currently feeling my pain, don't give up, we can do this! As Lily Potter (the fictional character, not one of my distant relations) once said: "Harry, be safe, be strong!". Now, let's all join hands and sob together.

~ Eleanor xo