Monday 28 July 2014

A trip to Newcastle

Here are my pictures from my recent (and first) trip to Newcastle! I didn't do anything in particular apart from have a wander round and then go for a meal so not much to write about but the day was lovely and I wanted to show off the photos I took so enjoy! 

Friday 25 July 2014

Top 6 New Look Kimonos

I may be late to the band wagon and you'll probably roll your eyes but I think I'm falling in love with kimonos! It is a style that I normally wouldn't wear so I have hung on and hung on and browsed a lot before fully committing to purchasing one. Here is a quick post showcasing my favourites from New Look - a lot of them also incorporate my ever-growing love for mint green.





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Wednesday 23 July 2014

What's in my travel bag?

I have been travelling a lot recently so I thought I'd put together a "What's in my travel bag" post. Can I just start with the fact that I am aware I overpack but I do like to be prepared for everything and also that this bag is not my abroad travel bag I have only been travelling around England.  


I picked up this floral, almost Cath Kidston inspired makeup bag from Primark for only £4 and it proved to be big enough for my makeup, shower stuff, a small mirror and my mini-straighteners (not featured in this post). I honestly love the print of this and I think it looks more expensive than £4 even though the diamond zip fell off after 5 minutes! 



This is everything laid out I have several smaller bags to keep everything clean and easy to access. My brushes I keep in a Eco Tools travel case which also has a zipped compartment that you could put smaller brushes in - however I use this compartment for my leaky eye-liner sharpener. I bought the clear plastic case from Wilkos for £1-2 and it came with 4 100ml bottles and 2 smaller pots - perfect for aeroplane journeys. I filled them with cleanser, moisturiser, shampoo and conditioner as their usual packaging was too bulky. I used another EcoTools travel case for my clips and bobbles because these go missing easily and it prevents hair getting all over my other stuff. As you can see I just pack the rest of my toiletries around the other 3 cases. I also bring my razor with me when I'm travelling which not a lot of people bother with but again always be prepared! 



I am a huge fan of lipstick and cannot really survive a whole week with just one so I always travel with at least 3. I really limited myself to 1 red (Lady Danger by MAC), 1 nude (MUA Shade 15) and 1 orange (Meltdown by MAC) that fitted in with all my outfits.



As I already mentioned I kept my makeup brushes in one of my EcoTools travel cases. Again only bringing the essentials like face, eyebrow and 1 double ended eye shadow brush. (Reminding you that I over pack, sorry if I seem high maintenance!)



This palette goes everywhere with me as it's so versatile and I use it on a daily basis even if it is just to even out and matify my eyelids. You can create so many looks with the 6 neutral colours that can see you through from day to night. The Naked Basics palette in my opinion is THE Urban Decay palette to have whether you're travelling or not.



Dry shampoo is a must for me anyway, having coloured hair I can't wash my hair every day or even every other day as the colour would fade so quickly so I use dry shampoo all the time. However I think it is even more of a must if you're travelling as you don't always have the time to wash your hair - I was only at my boyfriends for one trip so I could have washed my hair but then I went to London and stayed in a hostel with 1 plug between 5 people so washing my hair was pretty impractical. Batiste come in all sizes now and this travel size one I got from Lincs Blog Meet is perfect for handbags and travel bags. I also brought a travel sized Paul Mitchel hairspray I got from Lincs Blog Meet and a small suncream as it was so hot! 



I stuck everything that would be going into the bathroom/shower with me in this bag to protect all my other stuff from getting wet - which was a good call when staying in a hostel with a wet room. I also stuck some last minute perfume samples in here - not a necessity but just a nice addition if you're like me and prefer perfume over body spray. I did bring deodorant but for some reason I had not packed it when taking these photos - oops! 



As I mentioned earlier I packed all my hair stuff in one small case to avoid hair makeup brushes and also losing all my bobby pins - not really much else to talk about here except plenty of bobbles and clips for the days where you haven't washed your hair.


Lastly these trusty makeup wipes! I love Simple and always try to buy them when they're on offer but even baby wipes will suffice. They're a great way of quickly removing makeup if you haven't got room or time for cleansing and also a great way of freshening up in a rush or whilst you're travelling. 

Hope you found this post useful when packing for your summer holidays - I know it's not a How To but hopefully it inspires you somehow! I always think packing is quite fun but I'm a bit of a square in the fact I like to make lists and feel organised (it's a Virgo trait).
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Sunday 20 July 2014

Beauty | Intense Copper + New Hair!

Today was one of those days when I didn't plan to do a makeup post but it kind of just happened! I also thought I'd tie it in with a mention about me cutting my hair a lot shorter. I chose to cut my hair short because it had become so dry and damaged that it was getting ridiculous. So I gritted my teeth and told my mum to chop it all off! I actually quite like it but at the moment it's freshly died and  has that fresh cut feeling so this may be a sort of honey moon period as I get bored so easily. Anyway on to the makeup I've always loved copper colours (if you didn't notice) but after being inspired by the sun I thought I'd really go for it with the orange. Read below for what products I used.  




 NAKED 2 PALETTE // UD POTION PRIMER // MICABELLA COSMETICS BLUSH in WILD ROSE // MUA LIPSTICK in SHADE 15 // GALLERY LIPSTICK in BURNING BRONZE // RIMMEL EYEBROW PENCIL in DARK BROWN// COLLECTION EYELINER in BLACK // MAX FACTOR 2000 CALORIE MASCARA in BLACK // ILAMASQUA BLUSH IN LOVER 
 MICABELLA COSMETICS BLUSH in WILD ROSE used on crease // NAKED 2 - HALF BAKED and CHOPPER on lid 
 ILLAMASQUA BLUSH in LOVER (unfortunately got smashed on my recent trip to London)
MUA LIPSTICK in 15 // GALLERY COSMETICS LIPSTICK in BURNING BRONZE 
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Saturday 19 July 2014

Looking to spread the word about your business or blog?

Look no further than Retro and ThriftOffering affordable packages that can be crafted to suit you, my services can help your business grow whilst helping me out with the costs of running this blog. It really is a win win! 

There are three ways in which bloggers and businesses can get involved with Retro & Thrift. 

1. Advertising.

You can advertise on my sidebar and footer, which appear on every page of my blog. Choose either a 200x200 sidebar  or 300x300 footer graphic (or both!).  I'll also put out shoutouts on my other social media channels depending on which package you pick. Media packages are available on request by emailing retroandthrift@yahoo.co.uk 


If you're a blogger why don't we do a free button swap? Tweet me at @retroandthrift for more details!

2. Sponsored Posts.

Want to spread the word about your business? Or simply have a post idea that would fit great on my blog? Collaborate with me with a sponsored post. Copywriting is my day job, so I usually prefer to write up sponsored posts myself. The content must also fit in with my blog theme - which is anything from beauty and fashion to lifestyle and travel. 

As a ballpark, I charge £10 per 400- 600 word piece (1 to 2 hours of work). However, prices depend on time and effort a post requires - i.e. if you would like me to take my own pictures, edit them etc. Please don't hesitate to get in contact with me by emailing me at retroandthrift@yahoo.co.uk - I love being creative and discussing new content ideas. 

3. Reviews/Giveaways. 

I'm also happy to write up reviews or host giveaways for businesses and products - providing they are relevant to my blog. All of my reviews will remain honest and I will always let my readers know when a product I'm talking about was sent to me for review purposes. Read my full disclaimer here! 

If any of these tickle your fancy please get in touch at retroandthrift@yahoo.co.uk or Tweet me at @retroandthrift


What do I have to offer?

Before working with me you may need to know a few boring stats, as correct from June 2016

Social media is a huge part of my blog and my life, here are my current follower counts. 

Twitter: 1500+
Instagram: 800+
Facebook: 200+

Here are some average blog stats for June 2016

Monthly pageviews: 2500+ 
Average daily pageviews: 50 - 150+
Pageviews of all time: 85, 800 + 


Aside from all that though...

I've been committed to this blog for 4 years now and still love what I do. I love being creative, working with companies and other bloggers to create amazing content. Please get in touch if you have any projects in mind by emailing me at at retroandthrift@yahoo.co.uk or tweeting me at @retroandthrift

Friday 18 July 2014

Travel | Hull Street Life Museum

Hull Street Life Museum of Transport is situated in the Museum Quarter of Hull and contains various transporting wonders from late 19th century horse drawn carriages to the 1970's chopper. Transport museums always produce images of boring museums with train after train after train with a bunch of 'anoraky' people stood around who know every last detail about each model - however I think this museum is an exception and has given me a different, less judgemental view of transport museums! Amazingly this museum has free admission even though it's full of 20th century buses and trams that really give you a taste of the 'olden days'.  Admittedly everything is a bit mismatched in some parts of the museum like the wonderfully detailed Sicilian cart that appears in the middle of the museum but nevertheless I think it adds to the charm of the collection. There are many local artefacts in the museum too including the Cottingham North signal box! This is such a great day/half day out for the family as it's free and fairly interactive as kids can board a lot of the vehicles and enjoy a horse-drawn cart simulation!  Just be sure not to forget your dividend card when you walk down the quaint 1940's street and visit the Co-Op!


Thursday 17 July 2014

Lincs Blog Meet | Beauty Swap

This is my last post on Lincs Blog Meet - I know 4 posts for 1 day may be slightly over the top but I had good reason as I wanted to really show off the products and the event without skimming through without giving the day justice. The final thing of the day was the Beauty Swap which (if you're not familiar with this type of thing) entailed everyone bringing in their unwanted full size/sample products in and swapping them for other people's unwanted products. I brought in so many samples that I had never used from my Glossy Box phase and got about 12 'swap tickets'. Here's a list and links (where possible) to what I got:

Saturday 12 July 2014

Lincs Blog Meet | The Event Goody Bag

As you may or may not know (I have done 2 posts on it now!) I was recently lucky enough to go to the #LincsBlogMeet organised by  Bel from Journeys Are My Diary and Amy from Cocktails in Teacups. If you haven't already read my post
 about the event and also the the Boots goody bag I recieved please check them out as it was such a great day and I kindly recieved so many lovely things. This goody bag put together by Bel and Amy is amongst those lovely things and I'd like to thank the organisers as well as all the companies who donated (I will leave a list below). I think my favourite items in the bag were possibly the Lush Dark Angles Cleanser and the Lincolnshire Co-Op China Cup however all the products were absolutely lovely and I shall be using and reviewing most if not all of them! To see the products up close and read more information please read on! Here is a list of all the companies who so kindly donated!


Ask Italian (@askitalian)Weleda (@weleda)Boots The Fragrance Shop (@FragranceShopUK)Neal & Wolf (@nealandwolf) Lipcote (@LoveLipcote)Lush (@LushLtd/@LincolnLush)Benefit (@BenefitUK/BenefitBeauty)Batiste (@BatisteHair)Lincolnshire Coop (@lincscoop)Paul Mitchell (@paulmitchelluk)Manuka Doctor (@manukadr)One Love Organics (@oneloveorganics)Jewellery Ever AfterScarlett Fashion (@scarlettsfb)Crown & Glory (@crownandglory_)Black Tied (@blacktied)Me So Makeup (@MeSoMakeup)Crabtree & Evelyn (@CrabtreeUK)


Saturday 5 July 2014

Outfit | A fat girl in a crop top?

I know the title of this post may cause a little controversy and many different reactions but I thought it'd be appropriate because sometimes I am wrongly made to feel that crop tops are not for 'fat' people or 'plus-size' people. I do not class myself as plus size, however being a size 16, the fashion industry would I guess. I actually own a lot of crop tops and although some may say they might now suit my shape I still like them and I find them comfy so why not? So today's outfit post is a simple one, I am wearing this lovely grey oversized croptop from Primark which cost me a mere £3 (and which I have in 3/4 different colours) and these New Look high rise skinny jeans which look white but I can assure you they are a whitewash blue/denim colour in'real' life. I am also wearing my comfy and trusty Vans and because I felt a bit dressed down my Vivienne Westwood gunmetal/gold orb necklace.





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Wednesday 2 July 2014

Outfit | Beloved Daisy Playsuit

I have this Primark floral playsuit for years and it's lasted me so well as it has been well worn and comes out every spring and summer! I actually bought this back when I had red hair but I think my orange hair clashes really well with the vivid royal blue colour as well as bringing out the yellow/orange middles (what are they called) of the flowers! Daisy print seems to have made a comeback this year, I've seen it splashed around high street stores like New Look and this playsuit fits in well with that as well. I really think this playsuit is a classic and can be dressed up or down; I have worn this day and night, casually in town and in clubs and pubs. Here I just wore it pretty casually for a shopping trip on a sunny day with some comfy t-bar flats. 




Tuesday 1 July 2014

Lincs Blog Meet | Boots Goody Bag

If you read my last post (if not click here for some lovely pictures of the day!) you'll know I recently attending my first blogger meet - Lincs Blog Meet. As I mentioned, a skin care specialist lady from Boots stepped in pretty last minute and met with us in Ask Italian to have a chat about skin care. She gave a whistle stop tour about the skin and its many layers - which I had learnt in Biology but I never really applied it to skincare stupid as it sounds. She spoke about the skin care specialists at Boots not working for a specific brand but to encorporate all brands when working with customers to find the right skincare for their skin type and budget, which I thought was a great idea as sometimes you can feel pushed by people who work for a brand. The talk was great and she was so passionate about her subject, something that always inspires me. She was so lovely and she had hunted out some skin care samples for us all to try out. The bags she gave us were stuffed full of products from Eucerin, Nivea and Clarins - she even returned with more goodies and insisted on stuffing them into my bag bless her! 









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