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A lifestyle blog by a London gal who loves plants, metal, bleaching my hair and Osaka

Sunday 9 December 2018

Massive empties ♡ products I've used up #16 ft Lush, Bleach London, Jerome Russel, Rimmel etc.

flatlay of empty beauty products including bleach London, Lush, Kosé etc.
I’ve fiiinally moved back to Japan, and I've started work, eek! Before I left, I was using up things and trying not to leave anything wasted, and I was home for longer than expected I managed to use up most of these things :) So here’s a rundown of my empties and some mini reviews!

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Wednesday 28 November 2018

Japan goals ver 2

Mount Fuji as seen from the Shinkansen window

3 years ago I posted My goals for study abroad in Osaka: get good at Japanese, make lots of friends, travel, practise guitar, go to lots of gigs and blog about my adventures. I think they're pretty sound goals! I'm going back to Japan, so I thought I'd do another list. Mostly the same ones, but I've got another couple of things I wanna keep on top of, plus things I learned from last time.

My Shizuoka goals//


Make friends!// Luckily I do have friends all over Japan, and I'll have people at work, but I want to make sure I make friends in Shizuoka who I can have fun with! Last time I was a student so it was comparatively easy to make new pals, but hopefully I won't be lonely this time...

Get involved with the community in some way// I want to make friends with my work colleagues, and I also want to enjoy and take part in Japanese traditions- things like going to a festival wearing yukata and visiting the temple at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Take the JLPT N1// It's been 2 years since I passed the N2, and I think that in summer next year I'll try and pass the highest level of the Japanese Language proficiency test. It's cheaper to take it in Japan rather than here in the UK, and although most jobs only want N2, I think I want N1 for my pride, haha. I also think it will be good to have a study goal now I'm not in uni any more.

Carry on cooking and baking// I want to keep eating healthily, and baking in particular is something that makes me really happy~ I especially want to make myself cute obento packed lunches! I'll definitely post them on instagram when I do ;)

Start saving money// I really want to have a teeny emergency nest egg of like a couple of hundred pounds in case things go wrong- this would make me feel a lot more calm and secure. (Like a real adult). I think I'll try and save like £50-100 a month?? Of course, I'm used to budgeting for food, rent and socialising at uni, but next year there will be other expenses I'm not used to- like health insurance, and separate bills (we opted for bills inclusive rent in uni to save arguments). Also, my laptop and phone are both getting a little older (please don't die on me please) so I need to think about big ticket items like that. Basically my main goal for next year is not to lose money.

Take photos every day// I take a lot of photos, but I always tend to regret not taking more- for example, I don't have as many of Leeds as I'd like, or of my favourite side streets in Osaka.
Also related to this is: post on instagram more regularly, and keep blogging at least once a week.

Japanese youtube channel// I definitely won't have much time for video editing, and blogging is my baby and always will be, but I do want to dip my toe into making some Japanese language content. I've tried filming a couple of times, but It's scary actually talking in videos though. :') Does anyone else feel like their voice sounds suuuper weird? Ahahah. I'll obvs let you guys know if I do end up posting anything on my Japanese channel (it will all have English subtitles, just like all my English videos have Japanese subtitles rn).

Walk/ cycle to work every day// I'm not a huge one for going to the gym, but I do like walking. I'd really like to live close enough to work to be able to walk/cycle to work and get my exercise and fresh air in every day.

Have a v aesthetic apartment// I'm staying at my friend's house at first, but hopefully during the year I'll move out and I'll be living on my own for the first time ever(!!). While I won't have tonnes of money to spend on a super zazzy place, I want to make sure it's nice :) I'm thinking MUJI and plants.

Travel// I won't have too much time off, but I want to explore more on my days off- I especially want to visit north Japan and Shikoku, both of which I didn't get to last time~
I also want to have a cute romantic onsen trip <3

Plan my future!// I have a lot of decisions left to make- where to go next etc. So I wanna sort myself out :)

So that's me! Thanks for reading! Do you have any tips for moving to a new place/ starting work?? I'd love to know!! <3
-Amy xoxo

So I've been keeping this kind of secret but (I'm going to Japan) // My emergency bleached hair care plan and mini wish list/ haul// Pink hair with Bleach London Rosé shampoo: review and befored and after//
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Monday 26 November 2018

大阪パリピツアー♡// Things I want to do in Osaka

Osaka side street with Daiso and fugu fish signs


So as I said the other day, I'm off to Japan again, and while I'll be based in Shizuoka, I'll be flying in to Osaka- my favourite city ♡
I lived on the outskirts of Osaka for a year on my year abroad, so I have sooo many good memories there. It's been a while since I was there, and I'm sure some things will have changed, but I'm soooooo excited to go back ♡ I'm not going to spend long there this time, so I've made a lil plan so I can hopefully make the most of being in Osaka!

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Wednesday 21 November 2018

So I've been keeping this kind of secret but

Dotonbori, OsakaAHHHHHH I'm going back to Japan for the next year!!!
This post has been sitting in my drafts for a while, and I was going to write that "I don't know why I kept this so quiet". Well I do know actually, it's because my visa took about a million years (well, a few months, longer than we expected) to come and I was convinced that it would never come and I would have to give up on all my dreams and be unemployed forever (I was waiting for a while, it killed me a little...)
Buut,
I'm going to be in Shizuoka for a year! Doing a real person job!
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Sunday 18 November 2018

My emergency bleached hair care plan and mini wish list/haul

silver haired girl at Turner contemporary Margate
So gang, I don't know if it's noticeable on the blog, but since cutting my hair short, it has a) got a lot shorter (I'm still not used to it) and b) got a bit thinner. I have been vaguely trying to grow it out, but I'm still bleaching it so I'm not particularly expecting miracles length-wise. My hair tends to go in seasons- from feeling really happy and smooth to feeling dry, sad, and yet still somewhat greasy, mmm. So a couple of weeks ago, my hair was feeling really dry and sad, so I decided to ramp up my hair routine and take even more care than normal of my poor abused hair.
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Thursday 8 November 2018

PVMNTS @ Key Club, Leeds 22.05.18

PVMNTS at Key Club Leeds
Soo I went to see PVMNTS with my girls in May, and never got round to blogging about it! It's been a while, so I think I'll keep it short and sweet today!

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Wednesday 7 November 2018

Pink hair with Bleach London Rosé Shampoo (review and before and after)

Bleach London Rosé shampoo bottle
So I've had this Rosé shampoo for a while now, and I've got to the end of the bottle as I've been using it pretty regularly- this is possibly the last chance I'll have to do my hair pink for a while, so I made the most of it! The shampoo is a pretty versatile product- you can use it just to warm up your hair, to maintain pink dyed hair or to actually add a light pink tint to your hair.

Before//

I used it on silver/white bleached hair:
my silver hair before using rosé shampoo

After// 

pink tint from Bleach london Rosé shampoo in natural light

After one wash, the pink tint is kind of visible, but if you use it for about three or four times in a row when you wash your hair, the pink is definitely noticeable. Not as bright as if you'd gone ahead and used a dye, but definitely noticeable. I think it's more noticeable under artificial light:
pink tint from Bleach london Rosé shampoo in artificial light

Application//

I've had the pink turn out quite patchy before- the shampoo is pretty pigmented so be really careful that when you shampoo your hair and make sure you're distributing it evenly. Or you can mix it with some normal shampoo so it's a bit less pigmented and easier to apply- this is what I ended up doing a lot because I have no time for patchiness. (One time I basically had an accidental pink fringe when it only took to the fringe and the top of my hair where I'd slapped the shampoo on at the start... not the look I was going for...) It also isn't great at colouring my yellowish roots, although it's not an actual hair dye so maybe I'm asking too much on that front.

I also use this if I've been using too much silver shampoo- my hair sometimes gets a greenish blueish tint if I'm not careful, and Rosé shampoo is great for getting rid of that and warming up my hair a bit.

Although I occasionally use it to add a tint to my hair, I definitely wouldn't recommend leaving it on your hair for too long as it's not a treatment or conditioning vegetable based dye, it's a shampoo that will dry out your hair if you let it. I only leave this on for the time it takes to shampoo my hair, and then rinse it straight out after about a minute. If you really want brighter or longer lasting pink hair, go for Bleach's Rosé dye or something like Directions' Carnation Pink, both of which I've used before and recommend.

Longevity// 

pink tint from Bleach london Rosé shampoo in natural light

If you keep using this on white bleached hair, your hair will stay light pink. Otherwise, I've managed to get all the pink colour out in one or two washes with a normal shampoo. If you're really stuck and need to get back to a silver colour fast, I'd use silver shampoo or a clarifying shampoo. But I love using this shampoo for a subtle pink tone that's about as non-commitment as you can get.

Did it stain my hair//

No, but it did take on some parts of my hair more than others, as I mentioned earlier, so I do recommend mixing it with a tiny bit of normal shampoo to help avoid this problem. In general though, I think pink is one of the colours that tends to wash out easier and I've never had a problem getting my hair back to white after using this shampoo.

Cost//

At £7 per 250 ml bottle, it's not too expensive, as you can colour or add a pink sheen to your hair multiple times, or just use it as a normal shampoo if you've got pink hair already (obviously your £1 supermarket shampoo is cheaper but). It's cheaper to just add some pink dye to your own shampoo, or if you're looking for a brighter pink, to add it to your conditioner or hair mask.

Bleach London Rosé shampoo bottle
Overall//

I think it was a nice product- quite pigmented and it smells good. I used it all up, which I wouldn't have done if it was a terrible product. I did like this and was glad I tried it, but it's definitely cheaper to make your own. When I use this I always mix it in with a teeny bit of normal shampoo to dilute it, because it's quite pigmented and can leave pink patches if you're not careful. Also, if you're specifically wanting to dye your hair pink, and aren't worried about needing it to be subtle or if you don't need to get back to normal asap, I'd definitely just buy an actual pink hair dye- a lot of them are probably going to be kinder on your hair, compared to a drying shampoo. (check out my post comparing Bleach London's Rosé and Directions' Carnation Pink, both hair dyes I recommend).


But if you want a pink tint to your hair with no commitment, are trying to get rid of green tones in your hair, or have pink hair 24/7 and want to use this to help maintain the colour, I'd definitely recommend this <3

Thanks for reading! Have you ever used pink shampoo?

Edited to add: I repurchased this to help combat green tones in mine and my sister's hair every once in a while. I like having a bottle lying around, it's reassuring...

Hair update: Barely there pink hair with DIY pink shampoo// Bleach London Fade to Grey Grey toner// review and before and after// Bleach London Rosé vs Directions Carnation Pink
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Thursday 1 November 2018

East London day// Brick Lane vintage kilo sale haul and OOTD


silver haired girl wearing blazer, doc martens and a big scarf in East London
Today is another *flashback* kind of post- I have a fair few outfits and photos from last year that I didn't share as I was too busy dying and trying to wrangle my dissertation... but luckily all that's behind me now, so I'm getting to work on the backlog :) This day was at the end of January, the best part of a year ago(!!) when me and my friend Lizzie had a day in London <3
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Tuesday 30 October 2018

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu @ KOKO, Camden 20.5.18

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu @ KOKO, Camden 20.5.18
Sooo it's been a few months, but it's time to blog about when I saw Kyary Pamyu Pamyu ♡
I saw her right before my exams, but you know what, gigs > exams. (I studied a lot beforehand dw)
I've loved her music since about 2011, when her first hit Ponponpon broke the internet
(in fact, if you go far enough back, there are embarrassing pictures of me cosplaying Kyary's 'Ponponpon' look on this very blog!!). KPP comes to the UK quite a lot, but for some reason I never got round to seeing her live. I'm a big rock fan, and I think some part of me was convinced that KPP wouldn't be as good live. Thankfully, she proved me wrong!

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Thursday 25 October 2018

Girls night out OOTD ♡ ft vintage, red lipstick and thigh high boots~

What I wore and a couple of pictures from our last girls night out in Leeds! We went classy and went to issho for sushi, then we went to a couple of bars after that <3 
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Tuesday 23 October 2018

Outfit repeating// Leeds OOTD ft ASOS men's, Vans, American Apparel and fishnets

girl wearing ASOS mens Vans Old Skool, American Apparel and fishnet tights
I wore this on a random chill date day- we walked around and went to one of our faves Opposite for coffee <3
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Wednesday 17 October 2018

Leeds day and OOTD// Visiting the Tetley and Sheaf Street

girl wearing vans old skools, american apparel tennis skirt and asos mens jumper
This is an outfit I wore for my ideal Leeds day with friends- we went to the south bank and finally went to the Tetley to see some art, and then went for coffee at Sheaf Street~
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Tuesday 16 October 2018

Empties #15// Lush, Bleach London, The York Candle Company etc//

flatlay of empty beauty products
Another month, another empties! I think I've said this before, but personally empties posts are my favourite type of beauty review- you know the person has either really liked it (or was reeeally trying to use it up) and I think reviewing it after finishing the whole thing is way more accurate than the 'I swatched it and it seems lovely' approach you see sometimes. So, here are the products I've used up the past month.
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Monday 15 October 2018

New in// Dr Martens 1461 shoes, Bleach London and Primark

flatlay of Dr Martens 1461 shoes, tights and Bleach London products
I have a move coming up (at some point), so I've been really trying to save money and not go shopping. Buut, I got a couple of sneaky 'essential' purchases- some tights, shoes for work and some haircare stuff, so I thought I'd share :)
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Friday 12 October 2018

Vintage jumper and red lip OOTD


silver haired girl wearing vintage jumper, red lipstick and aviator glasses
I've still got some outfits from Uni to share on here, still from just before I cut my hair </3 (I have got to the point where my hair has grown out just enough that it looks worse but not enough to be long...)  This one was from May, in essay/ exam season.
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Wednesday 10 October 2018

My vintage shopping tips ♡

silver haired girl wearing vintage shirt standing on old tram tracks
I've been uploading a fair few outfit posts lately, so I thought I'd make this one a bit more interesting by sharing my vintage shopping tips. I went to Leeds Uni, and the fashion there is a bit more laid back, a bit 'wavey' and vintage clothes are really popular at the moment, and I also got infected. Hence my overuse of the phrase 'wavey'. Sorry bout it.
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Sunday 7 October 2018

#jumpersthatlooklikebusseats OOTD

girl wearing vintage jumper, vans and sukajan
We found this wall that says 'get your crayayons and weatherspoons' in Leeds, and who could resist taking photos in front of that?? Not me. Nope. This was another 'Leeds date'- our usual round of vintage shopping and going for a coffee.

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Thursday 4 October 2018

Northern Craft fair OOTD


silver haired girl wearing vans, vintage navy shirt and souvenir jacket
Another Outfit from a few months ago, this time another 'staple' of vintage + sukajan. I'm never going to stop wearing it, because it's stylish and it reminds me of my beloved Osaka where I bought it </3
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Wednesday 3 October 2018

Things I did in fourth year of Uni

house party photo
It's been about two months since I finished uni, so for the memories I wanted to write up a little round up post of my best memories from last year! Lots of these photos are a bit blurry and not #aesthetic buut I think it will be so nice to look back on this and I really want to document all the fun things I got up to! This post is v picture heavy, sorry!

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Tuesday 2 October 2018

OOTD 祭り// Sukajan, Vans and vintage denim

Silver haired girl wearing souvenir Jacket, vans and vintage denim shirt
Another outfit from a while ago, in Spring (as you can see from the daffodils in the background of the picture. It's my staple outfit basically, my sukajan plus a vintage shirt, but this time I went all out with ostentatious sunglasses too. This was actually taken when me and the girls went to the funfair to celebrate my birthday in April. I had such a cute day <3 I'll post a couple of pictures from the fair at the end~~

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Sunday 30 September 2018

My skin essentials haul/ Lush, Simple and Rimmel

flatlay of simple skincare products, lush charity pot moisturiser rimmel face powder and a plant
I needed to pick up some skincare products to take with me when I move, so this haul really is the basic bare bones of my skincare routine. If you read my empties posts, you'll know how loyal I am to these products. You know when you try something new and it doesn't fit your skin well? I hate that disappointing feeling, and I don't have enough money to splurge on things that aren't going to work, so when it comes to skincare and base makeup (finding things that match my pale skin is surprisingly difficult even though pale skin is definitely better catered for than others in the UK) especially I tend to stick with things that I know work. I'm not a beauty blogger, so I have no obligation to try anything new ahah ;)

Simple Purifying cleansing lotion// Cream cleanser, does what it says on the tin, doesn't irritate my skin, I've been using it for years and I'm really happy with it.
Simple Soothing Facial Toner// Again, does what it says on the tin. It's soothing and gets of the remains of any makeup on my face.
Simple Clear Skin Oil Balancing Moisturiser// I've been using a different moisturiser at the moment, (the Ordinary's moisturising factors) but this is the one I keep coming back to.

Rimmel Stay Matte powder in 01 porcelain// Another staple product, Rimmel's pressed powder. The packaging is ugly but the product is legit, and I keep coming back to this one even after trying more expensive ones. 

Lush Charity Pot// This is another tried and tested favourite. I picked up the teeny one and the small one to take with me so I know I'll be silky smooth. I really like the small metal container of this, and I have kept a few as they're convenient to refill with skincare or moisturiser if you're going somewhere for one or two nights. 

None of these products will be new or surprising to anyone, but they are what I use regularly and I do really like them. Do you have any products that you just keep coming back to? Or do you like to mix things up?
-Amy xoxo


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Thursday 27 September 2018

I graduated University!! ♡ What I wore for Graduation

University of Leeds graduate in robes on Parkinson steps
So I graduated from University this summer! I went to Leeds University in Leeds, UK, a.k.a. one of my favourite places in the whole world. I had such an amazing time, and I'm really sad to be leaving somewhere that I felt I really belonged. Luckily I have some exciting things planned, but still, the feeling that I'm actually not going back in a couple of weeks to a new term is a little terrifying. Hence me putting off this post. Buut, I graduated with a BA Hons in Japanese with a good grade and I am bloody proud of myself! 
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Tuesday 25 September 2018

Long time no #OOTD// Double Denim

silver haired girl in denim jacket, denim skirt, vans and round glasses
This blog started off as mostly a fashion blog- the first hundred or so posts are mainly outfits and fashion hauls. And now, six years later, I've been slacking a bit on that front. Recently I've been uploading a few of my outfits to an app called WEAR (follow me at @candyflossoverkill ofc) which is like instagram but only for outfits! I really like it for fashion inspiration. But the problem with using multiple platforms is that somehow my OOTD pics have ended up there and on my instagram and not here! I've decided to try a little harder to update my outfits on here too :)

This particular look is from April, before I cut my hair (I miss my long hair) and I wore it for a Leeds coffee date, then I slapped some red lipstick on for a house party later (student life...)
It's from spring, but actually it's perfect for autumn too, especially with a red lip. Double denim is kind of a staple look- and although it's been a bit dissed in the past, I actually think it's a really easy way to make an outfit look immediately more stylish and decisive.
silver haired girl in denim jacket, denim skirt, vans and round glasses

Glasses// Bought from somewhere in Shinsaibashi 
Jacket// SPINNS
Top// Uniqlo
Bag// WEGO
Shoes// Vans

silver haired girl in denim jacket, denim skirt, vans and round glasses

We went to one of my favourite coffee shops in Leeds- Kapow

two lattes and brownies on table

kapow coffee storefront
I'm definitely going to post a 'my favourite coffees in Leeds' post soon, dw. What's your favourite thing to do on a day off? That day was pretty perfect for me tbh- I hung out with my boyfriend, went shopping and had coffee, then we cooked together and went to a party~ 
Thanks for reading! -Amy xoxo

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Sunday 23 September 2018

How to settle in/ back in to Uni ASAP

silver haired girl sitting on bed drinking tea
Soo the new academic year has rolled around once again, and for a lot of people this means a new start and potentially a new house too! I've done my fair share of carting my stuff across the country, and here are the things I do to make sure I'm settled back into uni and back into a new place as soon as possible.
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Friday 21 September 2018

'Osaka' things I miss so much

dotonbori osaka
Osaka is the best city in Japan. Just saying. And I know I'm being a cliché year abroad student who won't shut up about their year abroad, but I honestly think I left a teeny piece of my heart back in Osaka. So here are a couple of thing I miss about Japan, and particularly Osaka.

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Thursday 20 September 2018

Guitar Wolf @Brudenell Social Club 21.03.18

Japanese punk band Guitar Wolf on stage
So in March I saw a band that completely blew me away- Guitar Wolf. They are a punk band from Nagasaki, Japan and they were absolutely crazy! So high energy and mad. We were really lucky to have them in Leeds as they only played three dates in the UK- London, Brighton and Leeds.
They played soo many great songs, like Jet Generation (which is my fave), yajyuu vibrator and Fujiyama attack. Their songs and music videos are slightly mad, and I hyped it up for myself quite a bit and was wondering if they'd live up to it: yes, yes they did.

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Wednesday 19 September 2018

New Youtube Video// My uni room tour/plant tour

After my plant tips post last week, I finally got round to editing my uni room tour <3

You can see how I made my room in an old Leeds terraced house as cozy and aesthetic as possible (mostly by filling it with plants). It's super real and I was just making the best of what I had, so although it's not the most pinterest worthy, hopefully it will be actual real life inspiration for how to decorate on a student budget.

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Sunday 16 September 2018

Silver shampoos Reviewed: Bleach London Silver shampoo and Smoky Shampoo vs Pro:voke touch of silver vs Lush Daddy O vs Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes

silver haired girl with paisley shirt

I've been bleaching my hair for years now so I've tried my fair share of silver shampoos, as well as making my own DIY silver shampoo, to help maintain the colour. A good silver shampoo is an important tool in your arsenal if you have grey hair (notorious for washing out quickly), or if you want to keep blonde or white hair from going brassy. So here's a roundup and comparison of the ones I've used so far:
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Tuesday 11 September 2018

Why plants are the best & my tips on how not to kill them

silver haired girl and pothos plant
A lot of you might know that I'm a teeny bit obsessed with house plants. I've had a crazy couple of years at uni, and one thing that's kept me sane is having my room full to the brim with cute house plants (I called my fourth year room "the plant cave" and it was a pretty accurate name tbh. I've been meaning to make a proper post about plants for a while, and I got a comment asking for some plant tips recently (hi!) so here goes nothing:
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Friday 7 September 2018

my minimal (ish) uni makeup collection

makeup products on a bed
I made a post of my minimal makeup collection on my year abroad in Japan, and it's been a couple of years so I thought I'd make an updated version. I'm trying to keep it minimal (kind of succeeding, although I've definitely collected more since I got back to the UK, oops)0 and I'm pretty happy with the little collection I've got here.

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Thursday 6 September 2018

Empties #14// Bleach London, Simple, The Ordinary

flatlay of empty beauty products
It's been a month, so it's empties time again. This one has a few products that I've featured in a few blog posts before which are solid faves, along with some more fancy things I got as gifts <3
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Saturday 25 August 2018

New in// BB Seaweed fresh face mask from Lush

Lush BB Seaweed fresh face mask and cactus
You guys know I'm a huge Lush fan- I love their eco friendly and ethical stance, their branding is really stylish, and their products have always worked really well for me. They are a little on the pricy side (especially on a student budget) so I was really excited to finally be able to take back 5 used containers for them to recycle and get a free fresh face mask- I picked BB seaweed.

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Saturday 18 August 2018

6 years of candyflossoverkill ♡

silver haired girl holding a cup of coffee
Can you believe that this little blog is 6 years old already?!!
So I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I've definitely been blogging less this past year. Not because I wanted to, but with final year of uni and dissertation stress, I've definitely been guilty or just throwing up the occasional instagram post rather than my weekly blog posts that I aim for. I even used to post daily in Japan!!

I also feel like, in general, a lot of my favourite bloggers aren't making as much content? Key faves still are (shout out to Kate La Vie, Lizzie Bee and Avril Marie for still making amazing posts!), but on the whole I think a lot of influencers and content creators have shifted to Youtube and Instagram.
silver haired girl holding a cup of coffee
But I still love blogging so much! And here's why:

It's your own platform. Compared to instagram, youtube etc. There is no algorithm controlling your own website- it's easier to keep people focused on your stuff, rather than jostling for position on people's timeline.

I also like reading words. I like youtube, but sometimes it just takes a lot of time, and a blog post is a nice medium- concise but still more depth than a single instagram post.
2 cups of coffee on a table
Nowadays, there is a kind of attitude of 'why are you blogging if you aren't a huge blogger' but as a happy microblogger, I'd like to disagree!
I've never made any money from blogging. And it's not like I'd turn down a *good* sponsorship opportunity, but when I started blogging, it was slightly before people made actual money blogging. Back in 2012, people did contact lens sponsorships or got free clothes from Sheinside, but I wasn't on that level. Since then, I haaave had sponsorship offers, but a lot of them were mysterious/ unrelated, so for now I haven't accepted anything. That might change, and I might decide to try and more proactively search for them. I'm also thinking about affiliate links? But I'm not really blogging for money anyway, and for now, I'm so drained from final year and I'm only just emerging from the fog of tiredness.

I also love blogging because it's a creative outlet! I can write whatever I want, and it encourages me to try and push my fashion and content and photography to the next level!
I also looove the blogging community- I think comments on here tend to be so much nicer- compared to bot comments on ig or nitpicky comments on youtube. Not that I haven't got nice comments elsewhere, buuut I love comments from my mutual blogger pals!!
2 cups of coffee on a table
I also love the fact that my most viewed posts are things that actually inform and help people! Specifically, my hair dye reviews and my Japan posts ♡ I've had people in real life, like friends of friends or people from the years below at uni, find my blog *from the search results*!!!
If I can help people a teeny tiny bit, whether by telling people how I survived the JLPT test, or by recommending my favourite silver shampoo, or even just showing what I wore to uni, that's slightly awesome.

So now I've rambled on about how much I still believe in blogging, let's talk about

My favourite posts from the last year:

Flatlay of empty beauty products including Lush, Clinique, Tresemmé and Bleach London
Empties #12
There's only so much you can do with a flat lay of empty products, so when it goes well, I'm pleased. I'm pretty proud of the photography in this post. I also love reading empties or seeing them on Youtube, so I think I'm going to keep this series going.


Leeds bucket list// Places I want to go in Leeds this year
This is a post that I love- I love Leeds, and I actually went to a lot of those places :)

Bleach London Fade to Grey grey toner// review and before and after
Bleach London fade to grey grey toner review and before and after
a staple post here- a detailed hair dye review. I always try and include before and after pictures, and how long it lasted/ if it stained my hair, which are things I really want to know before trying a new hair dye.

London OOTD
London OOTD ft vintage and charity shop finds//
This is just a standard OOTD post, but I like it!

vintage grunge ootd
What I wear to uni// Vintage jumper and fishnets
This was rare for me, as instead of just getting a pal or my boyfriend to snap some shots of me on the fly, I  did a lil photoshoot <3

hair products flatlay featuring Bleach London Shampoos, hair treatments and a string of hearts plant
Updated Bleached haircare routine (updated) ft. Bleach London, Tresemmé etc//
 I really liked this post because I can see the difference between this and the last one I did. I think the photography has improved, and I really like the products I mentioned too~

silver haired girl under archway in Leeds university wearing souvenir jacket, heels and red dress
22 things I want to do when I'm 22//
I really like reading these sort of posts, and this one is full of a few things I want to get done while I'm 22. Hopefully I'll get a few of them done!

Let's talk about Youtube!

So this year I finally hopped on board the Youtube train, and I've only made 3 videos, and they're all right, not amazing, but I'm really happy I put them in the world! They've had a decent amount of views too, which is always nice.




Next year's content:

I'm definitely going to make some more travel posts, but I also want to make sure that my lifestyle and fashion content has the best photography I can! I wanna make more Leeds content, because it's an amazing city and I love it and I want as many people to appreciate it as possible.
Another plan I have is to re-do my uni advice series from my first year- maybe not make a whole new series, but add a new updated comprehensive uni advice post. Annnd I also need to do a cheeky plant tips post.

Of course, if you've got any suggestions for content, I'd love to hear them!


Thanks for reading! 

I say it all the time but it's sooo nice to have people read my blog! Otherwise it'd just be me screaming into the void...
I hope that Candyflossoverkill is a place that's fun and maybe even helpful <3
Here's to another year <3
-Amy xoxo

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