Beauty | Winter Wishlist



I feel like it's been forever and a day since I sat down and wrote a post of the beauty variety. As the countdown to christmas has now started, I've been keeping my eye out for products I'd like to pop on my christmas list and I thought it would be a lovely idea to share a few of these bits and pieces with you. Let's get cracking...

1. Origins Super Spot Remover Blemish Treatment
This product is a firm beauty blogger favourite; it seems like every blogger and their mum has tried and loved it. £15 is a tad on the pricy side for someone on a budget, so I have been looking forward to getting my hands on it when I receive some much-appreciated cash from my loved ones this festive season. I have tried every budget spot treatment in the book and nothing seems to have had a long-lasting positive effect on my blemish-prone skin so I'm looking forward to seeing if a more high-end product can work some magic.

This product retails at £15.00 and you can find it here.

2. Essie Nail Polish "Take It Outside"
It seems I've become a bit of an Essie lover over the last few months. My "I can't possibly justify spending more than £5 for a nail varnish" rule has completely gone down the toilet and now I'm obsessed.

This product retails at £8.00 and you can find it here.

3."Honey I Washed My Hair" Lush Shampoo Bar
I'm a huge fan of the Lush shampoo bars anyway but as soon as you add the scent of toffee, I'm in love. I do believe this is a fairly new product to the lush world so I'm rather excited to try it out.

This product retails at £5.75 and you can find it here.

4.Too Faced "Better Than Sex" Mascara
Over recent months, my mascara collection has grown considerably and I'm so keen to add even more products to it. I've had my eye on the Too Faced "Better Than Sex" mascara for a while now, and it seems to be a particular favourite in the blogging and YouTube worlds.

This product retails at £19.00 and you can find it here.

5. Soap and Glory "The Fab Pore" Daily Micro Smoothing Moisture Lotion
Soap and Glory is one of my favourite skincare brands. I've been looking for a good pore-reducing product for a while now, and this looks like it fits the bill perfectly.

This product retails at £12.00 and you can find it here.

6. Real Techniques Starter Set
I'm really keen to expand my makeup brush collection soon, with a particular focus on brushes for my eye-makeup looks. Real-techniques has to be one of the best brush brands in the business so of course, that's the first place I looked.

This product retails at £21.99 and you can find it here.


What's currently on your beauty wishlist?




Books | The To-Read List


Over the past couple of weeks I've gathered up a fair few books I'd like to get my nose into. I'm slowly starting to get through them but I thought it would be a nice idea for me to share with you which books at at the top of my to-read pile.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Leuithan
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

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Anna and the French Kiss
Anna is less than thrilled to be shipped off to boarding school in Paris, leaving a fledgling romance behind - until she meets Etienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Etienne has it all...including a girlfriend. But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with a longed-for French kiss?

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One Day by David Nicholls
Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows?

Twenty years, two people, one day.

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This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
When it comes to relationships, Remy doesn't mess around. After all, she's learned all there is to know from her mother, who's currently working on husband number five. But there's something about Dexter that seems to defy all of Remy's rules. He certainly doesn't seem like Mr. Right. For some reason, however, Remy just can't seem to shake him. Could it be that Remy's starting to understand what those love songs are all about?

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The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
Ira Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, in poor health and alone in the world, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: his beloved wife Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together – how they met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families. Ira knows that Ruth can’t possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories, reliving the sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage.

A few miles away, at a local rodeo, a Wake Forest College senior’s life is about to change. Recovering from a recent break-up, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has encountered at school. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival and success, ruin and reward -- even life and death – loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the power to rewrite . . . if the secret he’s keeping doesn’t destroy it first.

Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.

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What's currently on your to-read list? Do you have any recommendations for me?


P.S Would you like to see any of these books reviewed? I'd like to make book reviews a more prominent feature on my blog so let me know x

A Thought For Monday | Ramblings of a Dreamer


Hello, I'm a dreamer. I spend many an hour daydreaming about the stories and adventures I can make and tell in the years to come. I have this indescribable desire to really seize every opportunity life throws my way in order to make many a magical memory. Because - and I apologise in advance to the modern culture reference you're about to witness - you do only live once.

The dreams and plans I've collated over the years range from mundane little things such as "have a movie marathon" and "have my future told" to rather extravagant possibilities such as "travel from one end of the USA to the other". Yes realistically, achieving some of the bits and pieces on my bucket list may be unlikely but I've always thought, what's the point in dreaming if you don't dream big?

I use dreams as coping mechanism of sorts to help me at times when I'm feeling anxious. Over the past two or three years, I've created many a story in my head that I keep as my little mental place to go if I'm overcome with anxiety. Whenver I get anxious, I just sit down on my own with my headphones in and think about the story. Most of these stories are so unbelievably unrealitic but I've found that the most nonviable stories are the ones that I can really get caught up in, which helps me to relax even more. This concept may make me sound insane but honestly if you ever suffer from anxiety, just try it. It does relax you.

"Reach for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land among the stars."


P.S: The 'A Thought For Monday' posts seem to have been going down a treat, which I'm so pleased about. If you do have any requests for topics you'd like me to cover in these weekly posts, please let me know! x

2 Years



Today marks my two year anniversary as a blogger. Two years ago on this very day, 'RealityLeavesLotsToImagination' was born, and time has flown by. I don't recall what gave my fourteen year old self the urge to create a blog back in November 2012 but I can definitely say I'm so very glad I did. The past two years have been such an adventure and blogging has provided me with so many wonderful opportunities that I'm so grateful for. I've been able to speak and - in some cases - meet some of the loveliest people I know, I've worked with amazing brands and visited amazing places. I do just want to thank all five hundred or so of you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time to follow my blog and read my ramblings. It truly does mean the world.

"I write a blog" is a sentence I honestly haven't said much over the last two years. Aside from my  family and close friends I haven't really told many people about my blog. The reason? I'm not embarrassed to admit that I type out my thoughts three times a week - far from it - I'm just not too keen on having the prying eyes of my peers, teachers and other acquaintances watching over every word I type, comparing the way I present myself through the written word and in 'real life'. To be honest, the persona I share online is far truer to my real self than the one that many of the people I go to school with know as on here, there's no pressure for me to be or act in a certain way. These ramblings are the ramblings of the true me, a vintage loving, hot chocolate obsessed dreamer who'd rather spend more of her time reading a book that out partying. I know at some point I'm going to have to reveal all and openly admit that I do in fact write a blog but, as it stands at the moment, I'm quite content with things the way they are.

I'd like this blog to remain my little secret, for now at least.


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