July Favourites: Fitness, Beauty and more!

In July I may have shopped a little more than I should have being a poor student that needs to save money. In an attempt to justify my spending habits I thought what better way to convince yourself you needed all these things than to write a blog post about it. So here it is, my monthly favourites for July.

Let’s jump straight in with leggings. Now I am 100% a self confessed active wear addict so when I bought another pair of leggings there was some opposition… BUT I’m glad I ignored that because these were worth every penny. These cost me £30 in the ProDirect Running sale (not including shipping) down from £50 – a real bargain for a pair of Nike Legend leggings (activewear lovers you know what I’m talking about). The Khaki colour goes with so much and the little mesh inserts down the side are super cute. I have barely taken them off since I got them… as you can probably tell from my instagram feed. I will definitely be doing a more in depth review of these soon so look out for that!

Keeping with the fitness theme lets move on to my next favourite: my water bottle. I am so guilty of not drinking enough water and this bottle is really helping with that. It’s a good size with measurements down the side so it’s great if you are really trying to keep an accurate account of how much you’re drinking. The best thing about it though without doubt is the straw. You don’t even realise how much you’ve drunk! The little hook on the top makes it so easy to grab and keep hold of. I haven’t actually been anywhere without it since I bought it. Fair warning though if you don’t pop that straw down properly and then put this in your bag it will leak (I learnt this the hard way). This was a little bit more than I would have normally paid for a water bottle but it was exactly what I was looking for and was one of the cheapest options. I know primark used to sell water bottles with straws but I couldn’t find them in any of the primarks I went to, which initially was annoying but in reality this Nike one will probably last longer than one from primark.

So I’ve just realised that both things I’ve mentioned are Nike… this wasn’t intentional I promise not to mention any more Nike things.

Now moving on to non fitness faves. First I’m going to talk makeup. I am one of those people who whenever I pass a boots or a Superdrug I always just pop in to have a look and end up leaving with loads of stuff I don’t need (RIP my bank account). I got 3 new makeup items – 1 of which I actually needed, 2 of which were impulse buys. We’ll start with the one I needed: powder. I went for the insta fix and matte translucent powder from rimmel London. As a girl that has never used powder I wasn’t sure if I would like it, I thought it might make make me look really pale and washed out (it looks really white before you put it on the brush) but it doesn’t make me look like a ghost so I would call this a success. It also really helps to keep my make up on through the day. So I would call this a success and would 100% buy it again especially considering it was only a fiver. Next make up fave is the insta duo contour stick again from rimmel London. It makes contouring so quick and easy, but blending is a must. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, use it without blending. It’s a thick stick and is really pigmented so if you don’t blend you will just have a random brown line on your face…not the best look. The stick comes in light, medium and dark, I went for medium and this one cost £7 (well actually £6.99 but that’s the same as £7 really isn’t it). I don’t use the highlight end that much though because I prefer powder highlight but that’s just personal preference. My final makeup item is the Provacalips lip colour in the shade Berry Seductive – colour code 420 – from Rimmel London (shock). I have this in 3 other colours and honestly I cannot rave about it enough! I bought it after I heard this lady telling her friend how she had worn it on a night out and it had stayed on perfectly through many many drinks and I thought it was worth a shot. Shout out to you random lady in Superdrug because you were not wrong this stuff is amazing! It stays on all day and doesn’t smudge. A bit hard to get off but so worth it. I can guarantee I will be getting this in more colours.

Mixing it up a bit I’m going to tell you about the TV I’ve been binging on. Recently I’ve been really into documentaries. I love trashy TV – I watched love island religiously – but you know sometimes you’re just in the mood for something a bit different. So I’ve properly binge watched Reggie Yates: Extreme on Netflix. Would definitely recommend, so interesting and informative. Documentaries are great because they make you think about stuff you wouldn’t normally even give a second thought to. The series sees Reggie travel to South Africa and Russia looking into what life is like there for certain groups of people. I personally found it really eye opening and if you feel like watching something a bit more hard hitting than your average TV drama this is definitely worth a watch.

Back to the products of my many shopping trips. My final favourite are these shoes. Leather flatform espadrilles from M&S for £39.50. Now before you judge me for buying from Marks and Sparks hear me out. I don’t buy loads from them, it’s definitely one of those places where you need to hunt for the good stuff but when you find it omg. So worth spending that little bit more money on because everything I’ve ever had has lasted so well. Let’s talk more about these shoes. Perfect for summer. I do not own many pairs of shoes that aren’t trainers – I live in trainers – so when I find a pair of proper shoes that I like I just can’t say no. I am so fussy about my shoes, if they aren’t super comfy and easy to walk in I wont wear them. So many pairs of pretty but impractical shoes are sat under my bed gathering dust… these however I have worn loads! The woven flatform gives a nice summery feel while the colour means they go with everything and you can wear them on those grey summer days (yay for British summer).

That concludes all of the things I’ve been loving and unable to live without this month. I’ve linked all of the things I mentioned down below for your shopping pleasure.

Nike Leggings

Water Bottle

Insta Fix and Matte Powder

Insta Duo Contour Stick

Provocalips Lip Colour

Leather Flatform Espadrilles