Changing my life one run at a time!

Hello everyone!
So, if you follow me on twitter you'll know that today I finally took a massive leap and went and bought running shoes, jogging bottoms, sports socks, a sports bra, vest tops and a hoodie! As soon as I got home myself and verity set off to run week 1 day 1 of C25K (couch to 5k)!

This is what I looked like:



Haha! Stylish! Everything I bought was from sports direct apart from my (bright pink) sports bra that I got from M&S :)

W1D1 of C25K is a 5 minute warm up walk then 60secs of jogging alternated with 90secs of walking for 20 minutes then a 5 minute cool down walk.

I'm not going to lie, I really struggled! I felt sick, my legs hurt and I couldn't breathe, but I did it! We're doing W1D2 tomorrow and I have a zumba lesson with verity and our friends Emily and Shima on Wednesday!

I just wanted to post a quick fitness update and let you all know what's going on!

Oh and also, a HUGE thank you to Dannie, Holly, Milly, Louise and all of you amazing girls who have tweeted me with help, motivation and inspiration recently. It sounds cliché but each and every one of you
Is helping me change my life for the better. For that, I can't thank you enough :)

xoxo

Chat with Cat: I'm in the market...

For a new foundation that is!

Yes, I have about 50 bottles. Yes, they could last me at least a year... But the problem is, none of them are perfect!

I get a lot of comments and emails from readers commenting on my 'flawless skin' and asking what foundation I use, sometimes I feel dreadful because the truth of it really is, that until recently I have always been blessed with good, clear skin. Combination skin yes, but still clear and 'zit free'. At the moment, I am zit and redness city. It seems like no matter what foundation I apply, it sits on top of my skin and looks cakey, patchy, and generally just disgusting; plus it wears off incredibly quickly (yes, even double wear!).

So, I'm turning to you guys and asking, no, begging you for some help.

Foundations I have tried:

Mac Studio Fix Fluid (NC15, £19.50)

Until VERY recently I was convinced this was my Holy Grail, flawless skin, no caking and no yellowness. Unfortunately recently this has become a nightmare, patchy, cakey, sitting on the of the skin and just a general mess :(

Estée Lauder Double Wear (shell, £22.50)

As above with the SFF, I thought this was perfect but I'm having the same issues with it at the moment.

Revlon Colourstay (150 buff, £12.49)

Although a dupe for SFF, I find this wears off too quickly and can often look extremely oily (not dewy, oily) on the face.

Revlon Photoready (shell, £9.99)

Two words. Edward. Cullen. Great coverage and felt fresh on my skin, but far too sparkly and actually slightly too pale (YES!) due to all of the shimmer (read:GLITTER) in it.

Rimmel Recover (ivory, £7.19)

I used this religiously for about three years between the ages of 17 and 20 and loved it, but sadly now (as with all Rimmel foundations) it is far too dark.

NARS Sheer Glow (mont blanc, £29.50)

Absolutely perfect up until very recently when it began sitting on top of my skin and wearing off in 5 minutes! I'm absolutely gutted as it used to have such a perfect, luminous and flawless finish which made it worth the price tag!

No 7 Intelligent Balance Mousse (ivory, discontinued)

Perfect for a quick 'popping to asda' base but far too cakey and drying on my skin. I just don't seem to get on with mousse foundation.

Natural Collection (no1, £1.99)

Cheap, tacky, awful, smelly, poor coverage etc. Oh and I had a MASSIVE allergic reaction to the high levels of chemicals in it! Then again, what can you expect for £2!

Maybelline SuperStay 24h (sand, £9.19)

Lovely coverage and finish but wore off and caked around my glasses (on my nose) after about 2 hours (so nowhere near the 24h you promised, maybelline!). Disappointing.

Borjouis 10h Sleep Effect (no71, £9.49)

Absolutely gorgeous, perfect finish, weightless on the skin, really made me look 'awake' and like I'd had 10h sleep, gorgeous scent, long lasting. Sadly, at the moment this just doesn't have enough coverage for me and I'd feel really insecure wearing it out of the house :(

Obviously this isn't a completely exhaustive list and I've probably tried a few more over the years but these are the more notable, and recent of the bunch.

So, girls. HELP ME!
Have any of you been having the same issue lately? What am I doing wrong? Why is all of my foundation sitting on top of my skin and not sinking in a bit and 'setting' to look a lot more natural and flattering?! Annoying.

I'd really love some foundation recommendations, 'drugstore' or high-end (but not like, £90 or anything!!) so that I can start to tackle this issue because it's starting to really annoy me and 'get me down'. I'm used to my skin (and foundation) looking good!

Before you ask, I've used a 'classic' foundation brush, stippling brushes (GOSH and mac 187), a mac 109 and a flat topped kabuki and I'm still having the same problems :(

Are there any foundations that you swear by, that I haven't tried?

xoxo

ps - sorry about the lack of photos! I wanted this to be pretty information based!
pps - just realised that it's an accidental massive huge uber foundation review! :)

Designer Wheels!

Hi everyone!
Many of you will be shocked to realise that my major interest aside from beauty/fashion is actually cars. Yes, you read that correctly. Cars! Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by cars. My Dad and Uncle own a car repair business and my dad has always driven something 'nice' (for those of you that care, honourable mentions include his Audi Quattro and his Subaru 22B!) and my Uncle collects classic cars. Combine that with a boyfriend who is qualified as a mechanic and completely and utterly car obsessed, and I never had a chance did i? I love them! I was given the opportunity to tell you all about the new Fiat 500 by Gucci and snapped it up straight away! For years, I've wanted a Fiat 500, they're absolutely adorable and the Barbie and Abarth editions have always been particularly tempting ;)

Anyway, Fiat have recently teamed up with Gucci and have unveiled the new Fiat 500byGucci. It's a stunning example of an Italian car and really is a perfect combination of 'car' and style. Lots of women want something more stylish to drive around in, and this certainly fits the bill! The 500byGucci will be available in the UK in two engine sizes, a 1.2ltr (£14,565) and a 0.9ltr TwinAir (£15,765).

This is what it will look like!

Now lets face it, who wouldn't want a Gucci car? Especially one that looks that cute! I've seen a lot of girls chatting on Twitter about wanting new cars and most that are being spoken about are roughly the same price as the 500byGucci so I thought this article might be of interest to you girls who are clearly in the market for a new set of wheels! Plus, in true beauty blogger style, this little beaut is limited edition. Immediate temptation! You can prove your fashionista status 24/7 in one of these bad boys!

If you're interested then you can click here to check out the car on the Fiat website. You can register to be kept in the know about the car and can book a test drive! eeee! You can also click here to go to the official 500byGucci site (just click 'ENG' in the top right to see the site in English!).

Everytime Stew and I drive past a Fiat garage I immediately start pining for one of these, Stew hates them (he hates all small cars) but I absolutely love them! Personally, if I could, I'd have one of the original 500's...



HOW CUTE IS THAT!!  However, they're extremely dangerous and unreliable these days! Don't panic though, the new 500byGucci combines many aspects of the original design and style, with a new, glam look! It's a new (and much better, imo) take on the Chanel bicycle and I'm personally completely in favour of fashion labels coming out with unexpected, and gorgeous collaborations. I would 110% buy one of these if I wasn't taking a Masters next year and had a full time job ;)!

Sorry if this wasn't to everyone's taste but here at Reaching for the Stars I like to shake things up a bit sometimes and vary my content. Especially when it's something I've grown up with and have a huge interest in myself! After all, how bored would you all be looking at photos of my ugly mug every day!

Do you like the 500byGucci? Would you buy one? Perhaps your partner will be more in favour of one of these than he would a Gucci handbag? ;)

xoxo


Sponsored Post

Viral video by ebuzzing

Natural Series and new brush storage!

Hellooooo m'lovelies!
Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, I literally completely forgot! oops!

Today I'm going to combine a little review with some new brush storage I bought yesterday, instead of having two short posts :)

First of all, my new brush storage! It's ridiculously simple, painfully cheap.. and looks surprisingly 'classy' in my student bedroom that is full of pink/hello kitty haha ;)






They are literally just two rectangular vases from Ikea that cost just £1.83 each! As soon as I saw them I know they'd be a perfect height as well which saves stuffing the bottoms with tissue/beads :)

I've taken photos of them from the front and the side so you can see the different dimensions, sorry my brushes are a bit grubby! Friday is wash day!

Anyway, I personally really love these little gems! Even though they're the most basic thing EVER! You can click HERE to buy them online from ikea or to write down the name for your next ikea trip!

(always good to share a bargain, eh?)

Next, my mini review for my Natural Series, three products from Spa Ritual.

Spa Ritual are an eco-friendly organisation who provide vegan, organic, natural products. I tried our their nail laquer in Love is in the Air (£8.50), a sample of Open Minded Organic Sugar Scrub and a sample of Look Inside Organic moisturising lotion.

Here are some images of the products:





First up, the nail laquer.
On the website, the swatch of this looks like a cute, creme, bubblegum barbie pink. I've spent the last two years looking for the perfect 'katie price' pink for my nails, and the swatch looked like everything I had been looking for. Unfortunately this polish is thin, the pigmentation is awful, and it literally peels off the nails without any 'trauma' (such as washing up, etc). For £8.50, this is quite shocking. I haven't bothered to include a swatch of it on the nail as I really don't think there is any point. I love the idea of vegan make up and nail polish but this just doesn't perform, especially for it's really expensive price tag. It's such a shame because in the bottle its a beautiful colour!

Next, the 'look inside' organic moisturising lotion.
Theres not really a huge amount I can say about a body lotion! This is really moisturising and not greasy or sticky once it's on the skin. However, at £18.95 for 225ml, this is incredibly expensive and I feel like I can get a lot more for my money with body lotions. Unfortunately because of the massive price tag, I won't be purchasing the full size product :(

Finally, the 'open minded' sugar scrub.
This is absolutely amazing, it smells sweet but isn't overpowering and it scrubs off all of my dry bits without being scratchy or painful (a problem i've had with the soap and glory breakfast scrub). This has really helped to combat my problems with dry skin on the tops of my arms and I've really enjoyed using it. Again, at £19.95 for 220g, this is really expensive, which is disappointing as it's out of my budget at the moment even though I'd love to buy the full size!

I decided to keep the product reviews for these items relatively short and sweet as I wasn't massively impressed with two of the items and the third was good, but really expensive. It's testimony to my promise to you guys to always be honest about products, whether I've received them for free or bought them myself. If I don't like something, you guys will know about it! I promise!

xoxo

A little loot...

Alriiiight? I'm really running out of ways of saying hello to you lot on here! It's up to you how you read that 'alright' but I really feel like a Waynetta voice is the best way! ;)

Today I went shopping with Stew and picked up a few bits, you can view them all in the video below, and further on in this blog post there are some close up images and links to all of the items in the video:











Links to all of the items I bought:
Witch Facewash £4.03, Clean and Clear moisturisor £3.46, Witch pressed powder £4.99, Batiste dry shampoo £2.19, Garnier make up remover £2.99, Nivea deoderant £3.05, Barry M lip gloss in no 11 'coral' £4.49, Lush Comforter £3.99, Lush Fluffy Egg £2.95, Lush Japanese Aid Soap £5, W7 blusher/bronzer £3.45, Stargazer nail polish in no 313.

Nuneaton bound!

Hullooooo!!
Yesterday we went to visit Stew's parents in Nuneaton and I thought I'd share how I wore my make-up!





Face: Mac studio fix fluid in NC15, Mac MSF natural in 'light', Mac studio finish conceleaer in NC15.

Cheeks: Mac Wonder Woman MSF in 'pink power' (LE)





Eyes: Inglot 393 (pale white/beige pearl) as a highlight, 44 (dark green with a tiny bit of shimmer) all over the lid and 500 (dark taupey grey/charcoal with glitter) through the crease and in the outer corner. Rimmel Glam Eyes liquid liner along the upper lash line, Urban Decay 24/7 liner in zero (black) along my lower lash line and two coats of Maybelline One by One mascara on both my upper and lower lashes :)

Lips: I didn't have anything on in the photos but I put Mac modesty lipstick on just before we left the house :)

Hair wise, Stew's mum bought me a mark hill professional conical wand this one to be exact and its absolutely AMAZING! It's actually half price at boots at the moment so snap it up whilst you can! I just randomly curled bits of my hair with that and it ended up looking like this, love it!

Hope you enjoyed this!

xo

I drew a heart around your city...

the title is a song by 'the boys after'

Alright lovers? Hope you've all had a lovely weekend :) A few days ago I was browsing online for some new, cute jewelery and as you all know, I like my stuff to be a bit different... 'alternative' if you want to give it a label :)

Jess, the owner of Raffles Bizarre spoke to me on twitter (click that link for the Raffles Bizarre twitter!) and introduced me to her gorgeous items. I immediately fell in love with the swallows, heart, and cute 'alternative' details and set about making an order!

Heres what I bought:



The super cute London Heart Necklace which is currently on sale from £6 to £4. The Paris Heart Necklace (Jess actually sent me this one for free along with my other two items!) which like the London one, is on sale from £6 down to £4, and finally the Rainbow Leopard Heart Ring which is such a bargain at just £4!! She also popped some sweeties into the parcel! eeee!!



The necklaces are absolutely adorable and hang really nicely on the neck, the chains are strong and good quality and they didn't turn my neck green (*cough* topshop *cough*).




The ring is SO cute and really 'me' to be honest! As soon as Stew saw it he said 'aw thats perfect for you!'. The band is silver plated and it has a cute glossy varnished finish. I haven't stopped wearing it since I got it!

Jess has something for EVERYONE on her website, there is feather jewelery, cocktail jewelery, some quirky hand drawn items, lots of statement pieces, and generally just lots of amazing, adorable stuff!

On payday I'm going to be ordering the time for Tea necklace and matching ring (£6 each), the pink and purple diamond ring (£4) and the clock cluster necklace (£7)!

If you spot anything you love (you almost definitely will!) you can get 10% off your purchase by entering the code 'THANKSCAT' at the checkout! You 100% certainly need to click here!!!! and check out the Raffle's Bizarre website for amazing, reasonably priced jewelery and accessories plus artwork and somne clothing ♥

xo

The Natural Series: Emani

Hi Everyone!

So this is my first 'proper' post regarding the 'natural' series that is going to run here on reaching for the stars for the forseeable future! I think it's really important to consider more natural products and a lot of natural brands go practically unheard of up against the corporate machine. With this in mind, today I'm going to introduce you to an amazing brand: Emani Minerals.

Emani products are vegan and free of talc, gluten and parabens.

I was lucky enough to be sent the Emani mineral hybrid cream in 'Uptown Girl', a beautiful pink shot through with bronze/gold and a little bit of shimmer. Mineral hybrid creams are completely handmade so no two are the same. They can be used on the eyes, cheeks and lips for a wash of colour, or built up for a more intense look.

The Packaging:



you get 4g of product in an adorable little matte black compact (that has a massive mirror inside!) with an embossed silver detail on it. It's really simple and elegant, I don't mind whipping it out of my handbag in public at all!

With Flash:


Without Flash:


Swatches (top blended out, bottom applied quite heavily):



This product is absolutely beautiful and reminds me a LOT of NARS Orgasm. I haven't stopped using it since I received it and I carry it in my handbag to top up my cheeks and lips throughout the day. It retails at £14.95 and I personally think thats an incredible price for such a gorgeous, versatile handmade product. The mineral hybrid creams come in 12 different colours, I've currently got my eye on co-dependent and love addict as they're both so beautiful!

The next product I was sent is the Emani Magic Sealer. This is a gentle, water soluble sealer that neautralises oil on the eyelids eliminates creasing. Emani claim that it locks in colour for continuous 12 hour wear and can be used as an eye base or brow primer.

The product itself is a clear, runny liquid that is applied with a doe's foot, not really much different to Urban Decay's infamous primer potion that I know and love. It can be applied either underneath make-up or over the top of it.

Although the Emani Magic Sealer takes quite a long time to dry, and can be sticky on the eyelids; this product has completely and utterly replaced my UDPP. I know right? Basically this has kept my eyeshadow and brow liner/powder in place perfectly whenever I've used it. Even when I was in London on tuesday and constantly on and off the tube, make eye make-up did not budge.





Retailing at £10.95 for 8ml of the liquid, this product is really good value compared to £14.50 for 11ml of UDPP which is a cream, so you use more each time!

When I first started using this I didn't even think it would compare to my beloved UDPP but I honestly do feel that it is irreplacable in my collection now. Only the tiniest little dinky dab of product is needed for both eyelids and it performs exceptionally well. If you have any issues with oily eyelids or the cream consistency of UDPP then I would 100% recommend this product for you!

I have my eye on the pressed duo bronzer in copacabana (£23.95), the ultimate 5min eye and brow kit in blonde (which contains an eyeshadow, liner, liner brush and mascara for £34.95) and the organic lip shine in rain maker (£12.95).

Emani offer a tonne of amazing products and vegan make-up brushes! They're definitely a brand to take a look at if you want high quality natural cosmetic products that are often handmade/created and always cruelty free.

xo

It's time to lighten up!

Hey everyone!

On Monday myself and Felicity mooched to Nottingham to have our hair done courtesy of Undercover Aussie. Myself and Emma (the PR) actually worked out that I've been taking part in the Aussie events for over 2 years! I'm one of the original 50 Angels you see, god only knows how I've kept my wings on for that long!Aaanyway, we went to the amazing Jack's Salon which is uber cute, its in Nottingham city centre :)



When I got there I was greeted by Emma and my amazing stylist Sammy (if you're reading this, Hi babe!) and we were taken downstairs for a glass of champagne and our little consultation!

At this point, I just can't resist telling you the funniest story EVER. The junior at Jack's had spotted my name in the diary and got a bit confused, thinking there was a real cat coming in for highlights. As in an animal. The team all wound him up a treat and told him it was for him to practice doing foils as a cat was really tiny and it would be easier for him. He promptly went downstairs and tore a bunch of REALLY TINY foils to put in the cats fur and asked Sammy if she would 'help him do the tail'!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Honestly, myself Emma and Felicity were practically crying tears of laughter as Sammy told us the story and he was so mortified bless him! Anyway, back to the hair!

Here is a before shot of my hair:


Aaaand here is a photo of Felicity having her consultation! She doesn't know I took this, sorry lover!


As you can see it was quite yellow, I had quite bad roots and my colour was really patchy, so I asked Sammy to even out the bleach and lighten it all up a bit (geddit? aussie lusciously light, lighten me up? ahem). She promptly started whacking bleach on and I suddenly remembered I hadn't mentioned to her that I can't really get bleach on my neck as my skin is really sensitive there. dun dun dunnnn! Can't resist a little drama! I signed my life away to say I wouldn't sue them if my head fell off though so it was all ok ;)

I didn't want my photo taken with the bleach on as I looked like an egg head soooooo swiftly moving on!

The hair wash photo of doom! Luckily I don't look like an uber fatty in this like I thought I would! The new aussie conditioners literally smell good enough to eat, I could have fallen asleep during my head massage :)


Blow dry time!

If you're in Nottingham and you want your hair done in a gorgeous, well priced salon that has stylists who are fun and actually listen to what you want, then please go to Jacks! Sammy was absolutely AMAZING and had me in stitches constantly! There was no 'are you going on holiday then'. She briefly asked what the event was all about then we spoke about everything from hair extensions to a man giving himself lipo with a hoover (yes, you read that correctly). She truely is a girl after my own heart and I felt completely at ease with her :)

Yummy lighter gorgeous hair!


Cut wise, Sammy literally took the ends off of my hair and then cut a stronger baseline in to help prevent heat damage. She also trimmed my fringe and took a bit of weight out around my face (out of my hair, not my chubbby face, i wish!)

All done!


Check out how white my hair is :D


Chillin' with Emma, who is actually australian ;) haha! I'm sure every time I work with her on a project I comment on her Aussie Aussie-ness pahaha ;)


I had such a brilliant time and it was so nice to see Emma again and meet Felicity! I would wholeheartedly recommended Jack's Salon in Nottingham and will 110% be returning there to get a trim and get my roots done in 6 weeks! I believe the salon owner is called Shani so Shani if you're reading this my head didn't fall off and my neck is now fine! Please give Sammy an extra days holiday or some sort of amazing bonus for being so flippin' excellent! You can also read about my day on the Undercover Aussie site here!

I'm putting my halo and wings away until June now :( booo!

xo

New YouTube Video: What's in our bag?

Hey Everyone!



We filmed this yesterday afternoon and I think I might continue to do videos either on my own or with Verity if you all enjoy it?

Let me know!

xo

Are you a Clipster?

Hey everyone! Hope you're all good :) I'm well rested after London yesterday and have also managed to semi-resolve my Tiffany issue! (If you follow me on Twitter you'll know the pendant I bought yesterday just didn't sit right on my neck and I felt like I needed a slightly longer chain). Customer services have told me I can just send it to them and they'll lengthen it! Yay!!

Anyway, today I want to introduce you to my new obsession, Clippy! Before anyone starts thinking things like 'oh she's only saying she's obsessed with it because she received the product for free', I want to explain my history with the Clippy brand :)

Basically, this year at University I was given two briefs regarding Clippy, one 6,000 word consultancy project and one 4,000 word report on levels of international entrepreneurship at Clippy, so in total.. I wrote about 10,000 words about Clippy as a company. The more research I did, the more I fell in love with not just the products, but actually the whole brand attitude and the drive and committment of Calypso Rose herself, the brand owner. You can click here to read about how the brand came about :)

So, I tweeted and emailed Calypso about my assignments and in turn she took a look at my blog and offered me a product for review purposes, I chose the Make-up bag (obviously!) from the online custom bag section that retails at £14.50. This section allows you to choose which bag you would like, then upload the images you want to be in the little pockets, and it gets posted to you all finished and cute and perfect! The other option you have is to choose your bag then print out your images etc yourself.. its much easier to order from the custom section though!

Here is my Clippy bag:









As you can see I chose pink trim and there are 4 pockets in this bag so can choose 4 images :) when mine arrived it had a little bow on it and a pin in the pocket with the photo of me and verity saying 'pretty'! So cute, thank you Calypso!

There really are hundreds if not thousands of options on the Clippy website, you can upload your own images or use the ones on the site, or download some images from the Clippy website via the Free Downloads link! You can also get really cute Sticker Kits, Linings and big boxes of stuff for Clippy party's!. I'm completely in love with EVERYTHING haha!

Clippy products are priced between £10 and £25 and they are really, really good quality, they wipe clean easily and can be used for almost anything! Verity has already decided to order one for her mum, and Stew is buying his mum one for her birthday! If I HAD to choose one thing to change about mine it would be the green on the trim as I'm not a huge fan of green, but I love it so much I don't really care!

I'm going to be ordering the Roll on the weekend roll up bag for toiletries (£15) and the Jumbo washbag (£16.50) for my holiday so all of my little bags match! ♥ I might even order one of the tote bags to use as a beach bag!

Are you a Clipster? Do you own any of these adorable Clippy bags?
xoxo