'Cause Two Can Keep a Secret If One of Them is Dead

(L-R) Hanna, Emily, Spencer and Aria.

So for those of you who watch Pretty Little Liars the title of my blog post will be all to familiar to you as it's part of the incredibly catchy theme tune! For those of you who do not know I am a MASSIVE fan of Pretty Little Liars. My flatmate Becca introduced me to it a few weeks ago and I have been hooked ever since!

For those of you who have never watched it I will give you the low down without giving too much away! The show is about a group of four female friends who receive anonymous texts from a omnipresent mysterious figure (or figures!!) only known to the girls as 'A' which start after their friend Alison goes missing and is later found dead. 'A' seems to be doing everything in their power to ruin the girls relationships with each other and other people in their lives while they spend their days trying to  work out who 'A' is and stay out of trouble which never really goes to well! 

Not only is the story line incredibly gripping, but the outfits are to die for! These aren't typical American high school outfits, the girls' stylist Mandi Line seriously knows her stuff and each episode I find myself making mental notes to recreate all Aria's outfits.

 Hanna is the girly girl of the group and she is always seen wearing flirty girly outfits and light colours, Aria is the odd ball of the group and wears grungy rock and roll skirts and dresses, Spencer is the preppy one and also the richest of the group so her style is a lot less daring and finally Emily is the sporty spice of the group and is mostly seen wearing trainers but she definitely knows how to rock them!

So a couple of days ago a Halloween special episode was released but I don' think season three properly resumes until January, so that's plenty of time to get up to date if you haven't watched the past seasons!

How about you guys? What are your favourite TV shows at the minute or are you a Pretty Little Liars fanatic like me? Let me know!

Psst my blog has a Facebook page now! Check it out here.

DIY Coconut and Orange Lip Balm

There is nothing worse than dry, chapped lips (especially when you're a lipstick addict like me!) and I am forever hearing bad things about petroleum based lip balms (yes Vaseline I'm talking about you!).  With this painstakingly cold weather dry lips are inevitable and it's important to treat them well so I decided to make some of my own natural lip balm with my willing lab rats *ahem* flatmates!

You will need:

1 ounce of beeswax (I got mine from here)

50g of hard coconut oil or the melted equivalent (I got mine from here)

10ml vitamin e oil (I got mine from here)

A tsp of sweet orange oil (I got mine from here)

And containers for your finished product! I bought these but in the future I would buy bigger containers (10ml) or small jam jars

So first we grated the ounce of beeswax, we all took turns as the beeswax was so hard and we used a rubbish grater! Once grated we combined the beeswax and coconut oil in a microwaveable jug and melted the mixture. This didn't take very long so keep your eye on it as if over heated beeswax can go weird! Once melted add the vitamin E oil and the sweet orange oil gradually depending on how orangey you want it to smell!

We tested out the mixture in one pot and let it set (stick yours in the fridge to speed up setting time) before pouring them all just incase we needed to make a few changes. I think we melted it down again and added a bit of extra oil but it's all down to personal preference! All the ingredients are natural so it's super moisturising for your lips without any nasty chemicals. We are in love with the finished product and are already planning our next batch for Christmas gifts!

It's so simple to change the smell with different oils and next time I think we're going to try adding colour too! Just experiment 'til you come up with something you like.

What about you guys? Have you ever made your own cosmetics before? How did they turn out?

Think Pink October Wishlist

1. Topshop, Petite MOTO Leigh jeans (£38)// 2. River Island pink pearl beanie hat (£13)// 3. H&M, cardigan (£25)// 4. Zatchels, pastel baby pink leather satchel (£76-£111)// 5. Miss Selfridge pink bow and heart wrist wear (£8.50)

I absolutely LOVE pink and these are my favourite pink picks for the month! I am so desperate to own the Zatchel bag but my boyfriend insists it would be a waste of money so I'm going to leave it for now and if I'm still pining after it in a months time nothing is going to hold me back! I've actually bought the pink Topshop jeans but they are super tight, so they feel more like leggings than jeans so I am in two minds, but I really like the colour. I tried on the W28's but alas they were too big so might just have to see how it goes with these teeny ones, fingers crossed I can wear them in! 

I don't know about everywhere else but Aberdeen is FREEZING already! It's not even winter, how can this be?! Anyway, it is most certainly hat weather which is why I can't wait to get my paws on this super cute River Island number. 

So there is actually another reason for this post... As many of you may know October is breast cancer awareness month. When I was fourteen a close family member passed away from breast cancer which makes the cause all the more personal. It is not just older people who are at risk it is EVERYONE which makes it so, so important to check your boobies girlies!

Source: http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/

It only takes five minutes to check and can save a lifetime of struggle, if you're not sure what to feel for you could always ask a friend or boyfriend/girlfriend to check for you - it is nothing to be embarrassed about!

What about you guys? What's on your October wish lists? Let me know!

The Life of An Intern

I have recently finished a three month long internship with Appointedd.com - an online portal for booking hair and beauty appointments due to launch in the next few months - and thought I would give you guys an insight into that time.

In my first year at uni, right from the start, we were told to start thinking about our futures and to cram as much experience as possible into any free time we had. Now some people listened to this and went about their day to day lives as normal, but myself and several others took this on board and went out and grabbed opportunity by the horns.

My first few weeks of summer (which if you're at university is a VERY long summer - 4 and a half months in my case) I was struggling to find work, I wasn't desperate for money but I needed something to keep me occupied and though I was already writing for SkintNation at the time, I needed something else.

A few weeks later I saw a Facebook post by a lovely lady, and also friend, who I had met at a festival last year looking for interns for a new business that she was starting up. I was living in Sheffield at the time so was dubious about getting offered a position as Leah and the business are Edinburgh based so I would have to work from home, nonetheless I sent along my CV and some pieces I'd written for local newspapers and SkintNation and Leah took a leap of faith and hired me as her first intern.

I'd asked to help out with the social media side of her business and though I had no professional experience within a few weeks I'd got to grips with doing things from a professional point of view. Leah was an incredible boss and we always worked together to come up with ideas and goals which worked brilliantly.

I am not going to go into too much detail on what I did but here is a very brief list: updating social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, building up followers across all sites, writing and researching blog posts, using analytics to track performance and optimize site and look for innovative ways to gain exposure.

Pros +

Working from comfort of own home

Flexible days and hours

PAID (paid internships are hard to come by!)

Opinions and ideas valued and taken into consideration

Given the freedom to make operational decisions

Cons -

Working from home - from time to time felt it would have been better to discuss certain things in person

Working with social media means it's incredibly hard to switch off, even when I wasn't supposed to be working I'd feel the urge to quickly check the Twitter or just add one little status

My Tips to You

Dont sell yourself short - make sure to emphasise all your qualities and how you could be an asset to said company

Make use of your connections - I met Leah randomly at a festival you never know where you could meet your future employer so be alert!

Do the best you can - even if the position isn't paid make sure to give 110% as whoever you work for may offer to keep you on and give you a paid position in the future and if you were an employer you'd expect the best from your employees

Don't be afraid to share your ideas - you never know you might just have an amazing idea that the company continues to use once your internship is over

Try and have fun - My internship although challenging at times was great fun and I had a real sense of achievement when I completed my goals

Overall it was a great experience and so grateful to have had the opportunity to be involved. Having had this experience so early on means I'll be in good stead for the future and can build upon my experiences and networks built!

What about you guys? Did you do any internships over the summer? Are you planning already for next year? Let me know!

Thrifty Thursday #2: How to Save Money This Christmas

Grab your jingle bells this week's Thrifty Thursday instalment is all about... Christmas!  It's not even Halloween yet and already most stores (and a few homes!) are decked in garish Christmas decor and we are reminded of a daunting (or for some exciting) truth - Christmas is closer than you think.

So my first tip to you, lovely readers, is to start now. Drop what you're doing, grab your purse and head to the shops. Okay, well maybe not right this second, but in the very near future. The sooner it gets to Christmas the more shops deem it fit to charge you a high price for any item which could be perceived as a gift.

Think outside the box - literally. No one really wants to receive a gift set which took all of three seconds of thought. But this doesn't mean you can't buy a couple anyway and mix and match the items for individual presents.

Secret Santa is your friend. Flatmates, work colleagues, friends can you imagine if you had to buy each group separate presents? You'd be up to your eyeballs in debt! Admittedly most people don't do Secret Santa amongst their families, but among friends it's definitely a great way to save those precious pennies.

Stock up! I've noticed recently H&M doing these cute little body butters for just £1! If you see a great deal take advantage of it and get a few, The Body Shop are also having an incredible sale at the moment and are selling some of their most popular body butters for only £6.50 and seem to always be doing deals on their online site! And don't forget to utilise your student discount if you have one!

If your quite the dab hand with arts and crafts another great way to save money is to make your own Christmas presents. If done well it gives a lovely personal touch to your gifts and cuts your spending drastically! If you're stuck for ideas here, here and here are some to help you get started. 

Not just at Christmas, but for any occasion which requires wrapping gifts, I just cannot bear to spend as much as the gifts themselves on wrapping paper! In the past I've made my own gift wrap out of old magazines and you can make your own too. Use newspapers and tie with colourful ribbon to offset the monochrome, retain gift bags from your own birthday and reuse these and use tissue paper to give presents a delicate look! For my eighteenth I even received one present wrapped in tin foil! At the end of the day, the paper is going to be discarded so theres no need to create extra waste or spend extra money on expensive shop made wrapping.

So there you have it! What about you guys? What are your tips for saving money over Christmas? Let me know!

Psst! Read the last weeks Thrifty Thursday here!