This week, in an attempt to get a bit more creative and snap happy, I decided to take at least one photo a day, every day from Monday to Thursday. I found this really fun to do so I might try to make it a regular thing, although my life isn't that exciting. We shall see. Oh-and advanced apologies for the fact most of these photos were taken at home. I was sick during the first part of the week and then when I was out it was too wet to take my camera along. As Siri would say, when she's not deeming all of us friendless, I did try my best...

-(Above) Tuesday was so rainy and awful outside so I stayed indoors most of the day. Here's the view from my desk and a little snippet of my Tumblr. Follow me for an extreme overdose of randomness. 

-My Rifle Paper Co. calendar was finally rehung on the wall and because July's page is just so pretty I had to take a photo of it. Side note: I wish it was blueberry season.

-Lunchtime reads. On this day I was beginning Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen. So far I'm loving this book. Sydney's character is so relatable and I just love it. Apologies for the lack of eloquence here but this book is good. Real good.

-Makeup from Wednesday's face. Admittedly I was only going up the road to run some errands but it's times like these that are good for me to test out new products and also look less...zombie-like. I lovelovelove that Maybelline Mastersculpt* duo. Psst, keep an eye out for Maybelline goodness on the blog next week.

-A photo ready tray at an Estee Lauder launch event on Thursday. I had a fun time drinking delicious soda and catching up with Tara and Ellen from Shop Style Conquer. 

-Finally visited Matchbox Studios in the St Kevins Arcade this week too. I forgot to take photos because I was too busy chatting and admiring things with my eyes and not a lens. Whoops. Anyway, here is what I picked up and I will definitely be back because they have loads of beautiful things.

*I hope your week's have been absolutely wicked. This week's been pretty decent and despite feeling under the weather it hasn't been too bad. Pro's of being ill: I can watch all the guilty-pleasure TV (i.e. binge on old Keeping Up With The Kardashians episodes) and read to my heart's content. Tonight I have a birthday party of sorts for one of my oldest friends. Shoutout to you G if you are reading. I'm also going to a screening of Paper Towns this weekend with Amy which we are very excited for, if only to see the Queen of Eyebrows (Ms Cara D) as Amy puts it. Have a good one x.

Another month, another stack of books. I actually plan on reading more than these books during July but these are the five I wanted to feature here. I also have a book haul going up on my channel+blog later in the week so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, here is my July reading list..

Very Good Lives by JK Rowling-For the first time, JK Rowling's often quoted speech to the Harvard graduates of 2008 is available in book form, with all the profits benefiting her charity Lumos. As you can see this is a rather slim book so I finished it in one sitting. This is so inspiring and perfect for someone who's about to make big decisions, or on the verge of entering the corporate world. There's also a Harry Potter reference or two in there which is never not going to please me.

Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot-It's been a fair while since we last heard from Mia Thermopolis but she is back. I'll be honest, going in to this I was scared it'd be a repeat of the Bridget Jones comeback from a few years ago. Thankfully it wasn't as I gave this five stars over on Goodreads. Mia is in her mid-twenties splitting her time between Genovia and their embassy in New York. Her and Michael get engaged on a private island in Bora Bora but upon their return to New York, scandal unfolds. As always, this story is told through Mia's hilarious diary entries and text messages+emails. One of the major storylines was quite predictable but it was still exciting to see it unfold. I hope Meg Cabot writes another book about Mia, maybe just one more to satisfy us.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas*-I have heard a lot about Sarah J Maas' books recently over on booktube and from some of my other friends. Throne of Glass is about an eighteen year old girl who is a trained assassin but she got caught and has to face the consequences. It's been a while since I've read anything within the dystopian+fantasy genre so I am looking forward to starting this one soon.

My Paris Dream by Kate Betts-Kate Betts was featured in a Man Repeller roundtable feature on fashion journalism recently where they also discussed her book so I made a note of it and ordered it in at Time Out. This memoir documents the tales of a journalist in 1980's Paris and her quest to conquering Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Women's Wear Daily among other renowned fashion publications. It sounds really inspiring and anything about fashion journalism is right up my street so I cannot wait to get into this.

I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson-This is the book I'm currently reading and it's pretty good so far. It's the story of two twins, Noah and Jude told from two different time periods. In the present day, Jude's perspective, the twins aren't speaking and it is through the two different sides you eventually learn why that is. As I say in my video which'll be up later in the week, I feel like this book is going to make me feel all the feels, a la John Green or Rainbow Rowell but we shall see.

-Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

*PR Sample

After my first ColourPop order happened at the beginning of May, I knew it was not going to be long before I felt it necessary to make another one. I grabbed a few different products to try this time and also some more of my current favourite eyeshadows. I've had these for less than a week but I've already had the time to try everything out so without further ado, here's my haul and first impressions...

Super-Shock Shadows in On The Rocks and Nillionaire-Oh my, some more bronze-y eyeshadows. I'm so predictable when it comes to eyeshadow colours. These ones are actually a bit more on the taupe-y side of things but I am okay with that. On the Rocks is a gold-bronze with gold and violet glitter. I don't really think the violet glitter picks up on the eyes but you do get some shimmer there and it is a stunning shade. Nillionaire is similar but is more of a warm bronze shade. When I swatched this initially I was really disappointed but it seemed to look a lot better on the eyes. If you like neutral shimmers then these will be right up your street.

Lippie Stix in Frida and Lumiere-After seeing Liv's review of the Lippie Stix, I knew I'd have to try these at some point. I opted for Frida first because I bought the matching lip pencil last time and really liked that. Frida reminds me of Patisserie from Mac but with more pink tones and vibrancy to it. It's described as a satin finish and wears well on the lips but be prepared to reapply this throughout the day. Lumiere seems to be one of ColourPop's bestsellers and I can see why. It's your standard, Kylie Jenner-esque nude and reminds me a bit of Syrup, also from Mac. I was surprised to read that this is actually a matte finish because it doesn't feel or apply like a matte lipstick to the lips. However, it definitely did have decent lasting power without the dryness. I can see this colour becoming a fast favourite.

Blush in Get Leid-I considered getting one of the new highlighters from ColourPop but I was kinda overwhelmed by the selection and not too sure where to begin with choosing one so I opted for a cream blush. I currently don't own any cream blushers so I decided it was a justifiable excuse to add one to the collecton. Get Leid is a warm peach-toned blush. In fact it looks quite orange in the pan which scared me but it's much more natural looking on. I wore this on Friday night when I felt like death and it certainly livened up my complexion. As for lasting power, I forgot to pay attention to that but I'm pretty sure the colour hadn't faded too much after four or five hours of wear. 

*Have you hauled anything from ColourPop lately? What do you love from their lineup?

A Base Gem-I'll be honest, I usually struggle to find an affordable foundation that I'd use and recommend. Being on the paler side of things, I feel like cheaper foundations often alternate between being too pink or too orange. There's never really any middle ground. Well, I have finally found a foundation that I like from L'Oreal. Their new Infallible Pro Matte* foundation launched at the end of last month, alongside a mattifying primer and I really like them. This foundation is full coverage without the cakiness and is so lightweight. It feels like you have no makeup on and it looks so flawless. Love.

Some Assembly Required-This was one of the books we could vote for in the #WeTheBookDragons book club last month, I think, and I saw it in the library recently and gave it a read over the weekend. If you saw my last video you will have heard me talk about this book already but it tells the story of Arin Andrews, a transgender teen. He talks about growing up as a child with gender dysphoria and the bullying, struggles and then later triumphs and achievements. It's a really fascinating read and I highly recommend it. I want to read his friend Katie's book now too because she sounds just as inspiring.

Lipstick For A Cause-July honours a number of causes here in NZ, including #LookGoodFeelBetter, a charity that supports women with cancer and makes them feel special with things like makeup workshops, styling sessions and more. During July, every lipstick purchased in-store at Farmers will see $1 being donated to the charity. Not only is it a perfect time to treat yourself to a new lipstick, you can do some good too.

Lizzie McGuire 2.0-I'm a Hilary fangirl from way back, ever since I saw her in Casper Meets Wendy actually. Her vacation wardrobe in that film was #wardrobegoals. Anyway, Hilary is back with a new album 'Breathe In Breathe Out'. Anyway, I am currently obsessed with the song Sparks from this album. It's just so upbeat and makes me happy. The whole album's full of catchy, fun tracks. If you're a Hilary fan/love pop music then give it a listen.

A Handmade Affair-Recently I've been on a bit of an Etsy+shopping handmade spree. I think Etsy is the best place to find handmade gifts but there's also heaps of standalone stores on the internet. Pictured is Nook and Burrow, a store run by two ladies in Australia. They make gorgeous bookmarks like the ones above, prints and other cute crafty things. Check them out if you're #feelingspendy.

-Have the raddest of weekends everyone! This week's been quite busy-with a mix of work, play and party planning. My younger brother has his 21st party tonight so there's been a lot happening around that. This weekend I don't have any concrete plans as we have some family staying. Oh-I do want to watch The Lizzie McGuire movie because I have been too busy to watch the DVD I bought of it & I have another video to edit so keep an eye out for that xo.

*PR Sample

Well I'm back from another one of my extended YouTube hiatuses. I've filmed two videos and first up we have the TMI tag. I wasn't actually tagged to do this but thought it looked fun, and it was fun to film so that's a win for me. I guess. I don't think I overshared toooo much but yeah, give it a watch. If you're new feel free to subscribe. When I'm not MIA from YouTube I do post hauls, favourites, book videos and the like so there's a mix of content on my channel. 

Have an awesome Wednesday and I'll see you on Friday with another installment of The Week x