Sixth Form Prom & My First Clubbing Experience

Hello my lovelies, whilst I'm feeling more ill than I've ever felt in my entire life, I thought I'd try and summon the energy to write a blog post about a rather exciting event that occurred on the 9th July, a few days ago. Admittedly I really didn't want to go to prom because my year eleven one wasn't exactly one of my happiest memories but after being talked into it by friends I decided I'd go because it would have been the last time I'd ever see some people who I'd known for seven years.

I'll start by running you through my outfit for the night. I purposely didn't show you all my dress and shoes in my most recent haul video because I wanted the whole thing to be a surprise, not that anyone probably cares that much but still...

Taken from my Instagram: @amy_96_

My dress was bought a few weeks before the event itself from Miss Selfridge and cost £45. I'm head over heels in love with it as the overall vintage look with the high neck and lace detailing makes it perfect for a formal occasion like prom. Skater style dresses are my absolute favourite to wear so with this dress fitting in with that but with a touch of added classiness and formality, it meant that this was the most perfect dress ever for me. Once I'd seen it on the website there was no way I was going to wait to see if I found anything else that I preferred because I knew it was going to be a fast seller.

I hadn't really given my shoes much thought until my dress arrived and I realised that the majority of the shoes I own are black and would look too much with such a pretty dress. I headed over to the Public Desire website and I was not disappointed. I found these gorgeous Nude Stilettos that I instantly knew would work perfectly with my dress. Public Desire is my favourite place to shop for shoes because they always know exactly what's in fashion and at the same time keep up with that whilst also making sure all their shoes affordable and good quality. These shoes were more comfortable and easier to walk in than the majority of my other heels because they don't have any kind of platform to unbalance you and make you feel as though you're balancing on stilts.

The bag I chose to take to prom was the one I used two years ago for my year eleven prom. It's a simple clutch bag with a diamante covering. This gave my outfit a slightly more prom looking finish as I always associate prom with an abundance of glitter and sparkly things. Unfortunately I can't remember how much this bag cost as it was bought two years ago now but I know that it was from Debenhams. Here is a link to their clutch bag page where you can find some that look similar if any of you are interested.

In terms of my makeup I wanted to keep it classy and overall neutral so that it matched up with my outfit and was fitting with the occasion. I'm not going to go through everything that I did because I didn't take photos of each step but I'll give you a basic overview.

I first moisturised my skin using my Clarins Ultra-Matte Rebalancing Lotion for oily skin before using my Clarins Ever Matte foundation in the shade 103 Ivory, all over my face. Then I took my Essentials Mineral and Plant Extracts Pallette again by Clarins (yes I love Clarins products and I'm not even sorry) and because these shades don't have names, I can't really list what I did properly. Basically, I used a warm brown colour in my crease and blended that out. I went back into my crease using a dark brown shade on a pencil brush to give my eyes some definition and then on the rest of my lid I used a champagne colour before adding a small amount of gold glitter. I then applied my usual eyeliner which is my Maybelline gel one which again doesn't have a name on the little tub it comes in. After spending a ridiculous amount of time perfecting my wings, I then added a coat of Rimmel's Lash Accelerator mascara to both my top and bottom lashes.

On my cheeks I used a Models Prefer bronzer to contour my cheekbones before blending that out to make my cheeks look all lovely and glowy. And finally, on my lips I used a Rimmel lip liner in the shade 063, Eastend Snob which is my favourite pink, lip colour of all time.

You can probably see my hair better in the first photo but my hairdresser pinned up half of my hair, leaving my fringe and some at the back down. Since my dress was quite vintage and pretty looking I wanted to keep that look with my hair as well so I went for a half up-do with some added curls. This also meant that my earrings were on display for once and not smothered by masses of crazy hair. The earrings I wore to prom were from Next, again around two years ago but they worked perfectly with my outfit.

The night itself was absolutely amazing and everyone looked so gorgeous! We had our prom at the Victoria and Albert Hotel in Manchester  and my evening was made as soon as I had a glass of Prosecco in my hand, which was about five minutes after arriving. Before our meal, everyone took selfies together and the photographer was taking group photos of everyone stood in front of the huge fountain that the hotel has at the front entrance.

For dinner we had tomato and basil soup (I'm guessing that's what it was because we weren't explicitly told, but going off taste, I think it was that), chicken and a variety of vegetables and my favourite part was the dessert. I'm a sucker for all things sweet so when a plate of what can only be described as half chocolate brownie, half chocolate fudge cake, was placed in front of me, drizzled in chocolate sauce with a side serving of ice cream I could have cried.

After we'd eaten, my friends and I went into the photo booth to take some ridiculous photos with silly hats, masks and my personal favourite, a Spongebob inflateable.

Later on that night at around eleven o'clock, after speeches had been made and everyone had eaten, quite a few of us headed out into the centre of Manchester for a night out. I'd never been clubbing before and it's safe to say that I was quite skeptical about the whole experience. The club the majority of us ended up at was Fifth Avenue and after having to take my glasses off for the bouncer to determine that ten year old me in my ID photo, was in fact me, I was let in to join the rest of my friends. Admittedly the first half an hour or so left me wondering why the hell I wanted to go clubbing in the first place. I felt as though I was surrounded by generic people whilst all I could hear was music which sounded like the 'UK Top 40' playing so loudly it felt like my brain was melting. And for those of you that know me, you'll be aware that the majority of today's mainstream music isn't really my thing. Nevertheless, or should I say, four or five shots and a few pints of cider later, I actually began to enjoy myself. Our group alternated between the R&B room and the main room which I'm guessing was just mainstream music although I did hear an Arctic Monkeys song which made me very happy.

Taken by Shane Agnew

Taken by Shane Agnew

We came back home in a taxi which picked us up at three o'clock and it's safe to say that the journey back was quite entertaining thanks to my friend Lewis. I managed to capture quite a lot of it on my phone which contributed to part of my vlog. You can watch bits of my evening at prom and my night out in the vlog below.

Thank you so much for reading all of this if you got upto here. I hope you enjoyed hearing about my prom and first clubbing experience; I can't wait for my next night out.

Amy x

Barry M Nail Paint

Hello my lovelies, so whilst I'm slightly intoxicated, yes I've been drinking, surprise surprise, I thought I'd share my thoughts on three Barry M nail polishes that I've been alternating between over the last few months.

A couple of months ago I was rummaging through my case that I keep all my nail polishes in and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't disheartened at the fact that the majority of my nail polishes had either run out when I attempted to use them or had turned extremely lumpy and just overall pretty gross. Many of my favourites were completely unusable despite my best efforts at shaking, swirling and stirring them - nothing worked. My go to nail colour, that being black, had been used to death so I was due a trip to Boots to buy some more and check out some other colours whilst I was there.

Whilst we're on the topic of specifically, black nail polish, I picked up a regular Barry M one in the shade 47, Black. I'd never used a single Barry M product before and considering how much I love my black nail polish, I was really entrusting them here and I'm so glad that I did. First of all the quality of the nail polish is just amazing. I'm one of those people who applies nail polish for it to then chip a couple of hours later, meanwhile, your friend is there wearing the same bloody one weeks later without a single chip in sight, but this is the first nail polish I've tried that hasn't chipped for almost a week! With the price being only £2.99, I wasn't expecting much but this is by far the best black nail polish I've ever tried and is so worth the money. The colour and consistency is perfect leaving you with perfectly shiny, black nails.

I think at the time there was a special offer on at Boots which allowed me to buy a second nail polish for a little bit cheaper and I love a good bargain as much as the next person so naturally I went back to see what other colours I could find. The second colour I chose was a pastel green one in the shade 502, Pole Position. This is from the Barry M Speedy Quick Dry range and I have to be honest, I'm not really a huge fan. The nail varnish itself is extremely thick in comparison to any other nail varnish I've used. I first thought that this would work to my advantage as I'd only need to use one coat which after a few attempts, I've gathered is what you're meant to use. As this nail varnish is so thick, if you put too much on it peels off in one huge piece minutes later. Don't get me wrong, that would be an excellent invention if they began to make nail polishes that you could just effortlessly peel off when you wanted to change colours instead of having to spend time scrubbing away at your nails with pungent smelling nail varnish remover. However, if you apply one coat of this fairly thinly to your nails (make sure you wipe the excess off the end of the brush on the top of the bottle before you start) then you'll be good to go and it'll last as long as the black one I mentioned above. In all honesty, I'm not sure why I went for this colour, considering I'm not really a pastel kind of girl. I prefer my darker colours and reds and pinks in truth, but it's good to try something different from time to time. I personally haven't noticed a difference in drying time with this nail polish, it was the thickness of it that was more noticeable to me. Retailed at £3.99 I cannot argue with the affordable price of this product but I don't think I'll be purchasing from the Speedy Quick Dry range again.

The final nail varnish I bought is probably one of my favourite finds when it comes to makeup and beauty products. I bought this one around a month after purchasing the two above as I thought I might as well give the third range from Barry M a try. The one I chose was from the Gelly Hi-Shine range in the shade 446, Dragon and I am in love! This nail varnish leaves your nails looking like you just got your nails professionally done at the salon and for a fraction of the price. I spent £3.99 on this product and my nails have never looked so bright, summery and professionally done with just one coat of nail polish.

Overall, the Barry M nail varnishes are definitely products I would recommend to my friends. Despite the one from the Speedy Quick Dry range being slightly trickier to apply, I wouldn't hesitate from trying any of the other ranges by Barry M and I would most definitely purchase the black and pink nail polishes again. I hope that this blog post helped some of you out and if you have any questions then please feel free to leave them as a comment below.

Amy x