The chronicles of "trying to be more woman" - Episode 5, A date on the beach

After 6 years together me and the other half don't do "date nights" so often these days. Our date nights generally will be a trip to the theatre and dinner, or cinema and dinner, or dinner and trip to the local pub. You can see there is a trend with our dates. To break away from the norm' my other half asked me to think of something different. I was thinking that I wanted to do something he'd really like. You see, my other half is a gamer and doesn't overly enjoy leaving the house. His idea of spending time together is spending our time indoors sharing a nice meal with a bottle of wine (or port) between us. Whenever he does plan a venture out of the house its usually for my pleasure. As sweet as this is it feels a little unfair on him. My ideal date is a trip to somewhere where I can pet an animal, followed by shopping, followed by a meal and then maybe a couple of drinks in front of a film when we get home. You can tell I truly am a gal of simple tastes.  When I put my mind to thinking of dates for the Mr I was a little stumped. He likes the cinema, but there are no films he'd like to see at the moment. He likes the theatre but tickets are expensive and when you include his train ticket it gets a little out of our current budget. There is a game Expo this weekend in Birmingham which we have discussed attending before but the Saturday tickets were already sold out and on the Sunday there wasn't as much on.... This left me with one choice which suits us both... a day by the sea. The Ol British classic:

 Why do us Brits like the seaside so much? Well personally for me its the combination of three main things....The salty sea air, arcades and Fish and Chips (although I don't eat fish, the chips by the coast are always Superior for some reason). For me and the Mr we enjoyed a day of walking on the front, popping in and out of Arcade winning numerous toys and trinkets out of 2p machines and finishing our day in a fish and chippy. For us, it was a perfect day out, enjoying our selves and making the most having time alone together.









Back to the point of this article however... Of course for such a rare occasion I wanted to make an effort for the Mr. To do so I made sure I put real effort into the presentation of my face. He is a fan of my lipsticks since previously to learning my new skills (as few as they are) that's more or less all I'd wear on a night out. I love colour and my lipsticks are my statement style on my face. Below are the items I used and the outcome of these products used on my face:

I had to go fairly heavy with the foundation this time as since the wedding makeup application (The foundation used for my besties wedding by the makeup artist was not only the wrong colour, yellow but also applied as thick as you'd apply plaster to your wall and then the moisture mask on top of this, which i blogged about previously -refer back to http://torrancestips.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/the-chronicles-of-trying-to-be-more.html for more info) I've had a bit of a mini breakout leaving me blotchy and spotty. MASS COVERAGE was most definitely required. Eye makeup wise, I am wearing eye shadow however due to my poor photo skills and my heavy brow its not like you can see this in this picture. Lips.... stand out obviously. That is my style and I suit most colours, but especially dark ones. Below I have listed all the products used as well as a bit of a close up of the bag and products for your inspection. Enjoy:

Make up bag: This was a birthday gift from my Jojo. I think it's from Floozie By French Frost but don't hold me to that...

W7 Bronzer Fever: This is my second time using this bronzer. I like that it has a little sparkle but I'm not wow-ed by this. It does the job. Just a warning, W7 website is really annoying as a first time user. I had three pop-ups, one which took me back to the homepage when I was so close to what I wanted. They are however incredibly affordable and have a VEGAN🍃 range. I am loving these cosmetics companies who are making an effort to appeal to all audiences. I may even get some of these products for my sister-in-law for Birthday/Christmas (yes I plan ahead this early)

Maybelline Brush: I have no idea what kind of brush this is so no point in guessing. I've had this brush since I was 14 years old. It was a freebie when I attended "Capital Xmas concert", back when Craig David had just brought out "Whats your flava" so doubt this is available anymore.

MaX Factor X Eye Luminizer: I'm not sure if I am using this correctly but I have found using this around my eyes is gentler than using a heavy foundation, but does a great job at brightening my dark circles and has a slightly polyfilla affect on some the lines I'm gaining (ugh; old age). This my be a product which has come to the end of its life however since it was a struggle to find a reputable site for the link on this one.

GOSH X-Ceptional foundation: Another budget products which I really liked. I was "12 Natural" and this was a really good match to my normal skin tone. It did a fab job of covering my blemishes and didn't dry out by the end of the day. I've only ever seen this for sale in Superdrug and at the small price of £7.99, what's the harm in giving it a go?

MAC In extreme dimension 3D black lash: This teeny tiny sample came with my recent birthday present from my MR. Fitting that I should try it out for the first time on our date night. As mentioned before, the Mr likes me in a lipstick and so every birthday/Christmas he purchases me a new MAC lipstick. Lucky gal I know. This was one of the freebie samples which came with his last order. I really liked the brush however at a steep £19.50 I'm not sure its worth it.... PLUS I was recently informed that these folks still test on animals. I'm not sure whether I will be purchasing their products in the future now unless they change their cruel ways.

Magical Halo Matte long lasting lipgloss: I fell in love with MAC matte some time ago care of a colleague who recommended it (by recommended, I complimented her and still do EVERYTIME she wears it and finally asked her what make it was). I love that Matte's generally have a long lasting finish as well as looking so glamorous and luxurious. This particular matte, goes on glossy and dries Matte. When I say dry, I mean to say it drains the moisture from your lips like soil which hasn't had a drop of moisture in months. Alone it isn't really a great finish. I top it up with a gloss and like the final affect. With a small price tag of £3.99 however no one can really complain. My colour was "10".


L'OREAL Color Riche eye colour pencil: This applies really quick and easy. You can get various effects by blending and using additional colours however for this date I decided on this colour (10. Sugar Vanilla) on its own. I like the simple colour however although it applies easily and stays put, but the end of the day this did look a little cracked and crunchy. Good for a night out, but not really all day. Another super cheap and cheerful however at £3.98.


Natural Collection Clear lip gloss: weirdly I cannot find the clear version of the gloss on boots website however I have had this gloss for at least 10 years so perhaps its no longer produced in clear. This a clear gloss however over the years of use and blending with other lipsticks its not entirely clear these days. Good ol classic and still cheap and cheerful.



Overall I was happy with how my face looked from morning til night. The other half prefers the red lipsticks (what man doesn't) however he did like this colour. He isn't sure about "dribble lips" (Gloss) but he did like that I looked natural (other than the lips).

As for Hastings.... it hasn't much changed from way back when, when my parents used to take me to the front for the amusements and rides. It has a really good antiques vibe in the backstreets with lots of quirky shops. I particularly loved some of the store/pub/restaurant fronts... I've pictured two below which I particularly liked.

Super cute right?



Style wise I went with a simple light denim dress with a huge oversized gridded jumper, leggings and most importantly I brought the Dr Martens back out of summer hibernation! Oh yeah I do love my Docs. They always take a little while to wear in, but after a month of solid wearing they remain the most comfy boots until they die...

That's all I have to say for this article. I hope you enjoyed and if you did please let me know in the comment and follow :)

Peace out ☮