Top 10 Under £10

As a student I am constantly on a tight budget so finding beauty bargains is extremely important. Over my years endlessly browsing through Boots and Superdrug I have come across some high street/drugstore gems.

Whilst there are some products and brands I am willing and prefer to spend more money on whether that be as a staple piece or an unplanned splurge item, there are also some things which I believe can give great results for the grand sum of £10 or less. 

Here I have pulled together my personal favourite list of 10 products under £10, enjoy!

List from left to right

1) L'oreal Paris Elnett Satin Heat Protect Styling Spray Waves - £4.99
Elnett is seriously worth the hype it gets, this stuff is amazing! I apply it to wet/damp hair and then blow dry and it gives this lovely natural looking texture to the hair. It is also great for using before heat styling hair for adding extra hold and body. Plus it also smells incredible.

2) Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara 100% Black - £6.99
My tube of this is looking seriously beat up and that alone shows how much I love it! This is the kind of product I could never be without in my collection, it is a mascara that I have been using since I was about 13 and for 6 years now it is the one I always come back to. Super black, holds a curl, long lasting and adds amazing volume and length whilst also being separating - it's true this mascara can do it all!

3) Max Factor Colour Elixir Lipstick in Pink Brandy - £7.99
Best Lipstick Ever. Think that says it all, but just in case I will say more....the formula is creamy and smooth yet also has great lasting power. Unbelievably pigmented, but not drying. Whilst I therefore love the whole line this colour in particular is my favourite, a pinky coral that is both sophisticated and very fun and bright.

4) Vaseline Spray and Go Body Moisturiser - £3.32
A fairly new discovery for me, but nonetheless it has already made its way into the top 10. I am the kind of person who finds moisturising my body a chore, so the fact that this product is basically convenience in a can means that it will always be a winner in my book. Another major bonus, the smell which is very fresh and sweet, lingers and I must say I have been complimented several times after just using this!

5) Boots Natural Collection Apple and Lime Body Spray - £1.99
An absolute bargain of a product, and a complete dupe for the DKNY Be Delicious perfume, another one of my favourites. Whilst this clearly does not have the strength or the longevity of the perfume, it makes the perfect handbag staple to top up your scent during the day. 

6) Soap and Glory One Heck Of A Blot - £12
So £12 is not under 10.....this is my cheat item of the list and I feel I can justify this. Firstly Soap and Glory is pretty much permanently on some kind of  special offer in Boots/Superdrug, so you are likely to get this powder for under £10 anyway. And secondly, even if not, this is a drugstore highlight in my opinion, the best translucent powder I have ever found, and as someone with oily skin trust me I have tried many!

7) Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - £3.32
A Bioderma dupe that is far cheaper and far more accessible and works just as well. I use it every day to remove my makeup befire using my cleanser, works well even on waterproof eye makeup. On a lazy day, after a long day at work or a night out it also gives me no excuse not to take my makeup off, and is much better than using makeup wipes.

8) Essie Nail Varnish in Fifth Avenue - £8
Essie do my favourite formula of nail varnish in the drugstore, have the largest range of colours and definitely have the cutest names of all makeup products full stop. Fifth Avenue is for me the perfect red, not too pink and not too orange. A true red that looks good all year round.

9) Revlon Colour Stay Ultimate Suede in Socialite - £8.99
To me this is a mystery product, because it is something I never see in peoples blogs or videos and I do not understand why, as these lip products are incredible! I would compare them to the texture of a cremesheen by MAC but without the price tag. This is my favourite shade and I use it as my every nude, but I have most other shades and wore It Girl pretty much all summer last year and I wore Trendsetter to my Leavers Ball at the end of school.

10) Alberto Balsam Shampoo in Coconut and Lychee - £2.59
This shampoo comes in a range scents which are all targeted to different hair types and problems. This one is designed to help nourish the hair and scalp, and the coconut scents really lingers in your hair. My other favourite is the apple scent which is specifically for cleansing greasy hair which my definitely is after a few days.

There were a host of other products I could have included in this list, but these were 10 that I feel are some of the best items I own in my entire collection that also have the bonus factor of not breaking the bank!

Thank you for reading, until next time, B mwah xx

The Freshers Review

The build up to results day will forever be one of the most stressful times, but it suddenly all becomes worth it when you receive the place you have been waiting and dreaming of. I was lucky enough to gain a place at my top choice of university, which means that at the end of September I was off!

Nothing could ever prepare me for the whirlwind that was my first day, and almost a year on I can still remember exactly how I felt, the rush of every kind of emotion. More than anything it was the feeling that this was the place and these were the people that I was about to embark a whole new chapter of my life with. And my advice would be hold onto every second in that first week because those are the memories you will cherish.

On our last night of first week!

It couldn't be more true when they say that university is the time to meet new and exciting people like you've never done before. For me this is what I will always be grateful for, the people and the friends I have made this year. Without some of these people my first year would have been extremely lonely and dull, and I wouldn't be the person I am today.

For me the place that made this all possible was my halls of residence, and for me choosing to live in halls was one of the best decisions I made. My hall became my home from home, a small bubble in which everyone inside became part of this amazing community. Whether this be chilling out on 'the quad' or having Made in Chelsea viewing parties in the JCR or simply queuing with our trays for the awful canteen food at dinner, hall life was the best part of freshers.

My favourite girlfriends

Once you have got to grips with the people and the place then is when the actual study begins, and for me this was to dive into the past, as I am now undertaking a History degree. Whatever it is you study, it is important to manage that work-play balance, which as an 18 year old with a whole new sense of freedom it is often difficult to maintain, I will have to be the first to admit. And whilst those 9am lectures becomes an increasing struggle when you are lying in bed, potentially slightly fragile from the night before, something has to make that £9000 a year worth it!

It would not be a full review of this year if I didn't talk about how along with all the amazing highs, there are also the
lows. And for many this often comes in the form of homesickness. For me, and I'm sure for many others, moving out and into university is the first time living away from home and that can be a real shock to the system. Though I would like to believe I am fairly independent, it would be a lie to say that there weren't times that all I wanted was to be with my family and friends, and just to be in the safety net that is home.

Night out the crew!

I believe that rather than pining over what you miss about home and your old life, it is important to embrace the life you have now. And for me a way I love to do this is by going out with my friends. I have had some of the best times of life on some nights out at uni, and to me it presents the perfect opportunity to consolidate the relationships you are building with people.

Among these people you are meeting brings the potential to make relationships of all kinds. And whilst I may not have finished freshers with my prince charming on my arm, it has given me new experiences and truly opened my eyes to the complicated world of boys and dating.

All of this being said, once the friendships have been made, the tequila has been drank and the dating drama has subsided, exam season suddenly dawns. What is important to remember is that, if you are fortunate as I was, is that first year doesn't actually count towards your overall degree grade. So the way I saw freshers was as a trial run to try new things, make mistakes, so that next year the real race can begin.

Festival at the end of term 

The stress of revision, the all nighters and the cram sessions will not last forever, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that is the promise of the post exam freedom and fun. For me, my last few weeks of uni was when I truly came to appreciate and have time to look back over the year I had and thank every one of my lucky stars at how happy I was.

Just like that first year is over, you made it, I made it! Freshers is complete and I can honestly say it was the best year of my life so far, and to anyone who was a part of it I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And thank you for reading, until next time, B xxx

Best year with the best friends

About Me

I thought it would be a good idea for you to learn a little bit about the girl behind the screen, so here are a few of my all time favourites:

Film - How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Pocahontas, Catch Me If You Can

Book - The Other Boleyn Girl, The Kite Runner and the entire Harry Potter series - major Potterhead over here!

Perfume - Miss Dior Cherie and DKNY Be Delicious Green Apple - these two scents for me are absolute classics, and two that I could never not have in my collection
Lip Product - Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Sticks
Celebrity - Kate Middleton - my love for the royals is borderline obsessive, and to me Kate is truly an icon and an inspiration

Accessory - Sunglasses
Drink - this is very season dependent, in winter nothing beats a chai latte, and then in summer I cannot go very long without an iced coffee of some description my favourite being an iced caramel latte
Shop - Topshop
Colour - Pink (of course!)
Day of the Week - Friday - is there really any other answer

Alcoholic Drink - cocktails, and that is of all descriptions, all year round, but my favourites would be mojitos and the British classic that is Pimms

Food - Mexican
Sport - Tennis to watch, Netball to play
Place - Covent Garden, to me is the hub of quintessential London, with amazing restaurants, coffee shops and bars, places to shop and constant entertainment, and even more special at Christmas. Another one of my favourites as the biggest fan EVER is of course Disney Land. I have been lucky enough to visit both Paris and Florida, and they truly are the happiest places on the planet

Restaurant - Wagamammas, Nandos, Chipotle
Music - Taylor Swift - who appears to have an uncanny ability to make every one of her songs feel as if it has been written about your own life. She is also perfect for all occasions whether that be cruising along in your car to Love Story, crying over a boy listening to Teardrops On My Guitar or blasting out We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together before a girls night out

These is just a small collection of some of my favourite things which I hope begins to give an insight into my life

Thank you for reading, B mwah xx

Welcome

Hi everyone and welcome to Cloud Belle,

My name is Belle, and I am 19 years old student from South London. 

I love coffee, make up, books, fashion, and cringe worthy to say, but my family and friends!

I would like to think of this as a place in which I can talk and engage with others about things that I love.

What you can expect from this blog is hopefully an insight into a normal girl trying to make her way through a crazy world, with some laughs and some loves along the way.

I can't wait to see where this new chapter in my life will take me, and I hope you will come along for the journey.

After all anything can happen up in Cloud Belle, mwah xxx