2012 in Review

Happy New Year!

Ah, it's kind of weird to be talking about what happened last year when I have outstanding posts from six months ago to still post but with it being the start of 2013 it only felt appropriate to.

2012 was an interesting year. It had both ups and downs. The last few weeks were pretty bad because my mood just hit rock bottom but it's been a genuinely positive year. I broke out of doing mundane things day after day and tried to live a little. So, lets have a year in review!

January

Nothing much happened!

I just enjoyed the Christmas after glow and bought some products that are usually out of my budget because I could.

I also found myself purchasing Lush skincare products which was the start of frequent visits to Lush.

February

My Gyaru month! I did three core posts on gyaru. People seemed to really like them so I wrote some more!

My old laptop began to blow smoke out. I used my Jimmy Choo shoe fund in order to replace her and nicknamed her 'Clara'.

I rebranded by blog from Hippogrape to CLARA-NEE and redid the layout. It was very stressful!

My 20th birthday was this month! To celebrate I visited Disneyland Paris and had so much fun.

I stopped chomping on my nails on the day of my 20th birthday. Brilliant!

March

I started my 'Blog of the Week' feature which ran for a few weeks.

My old Blackberry contract ended so I upgraded to an iPhone 4, which has honestly been one of the best investments I've made. I genuinely adore my phone!

I actually don't remember too much of March for some reason. Good things probably happened!

April

I SAW THE HUNGER GAMES and I was so happy! I... ugh, what a perfect movie!

I attended Kitacon and cosplayed! It was ridiculously great. I'm so sad that it's not running in 2013.

I griped terribly at all of the summer clothing. It was just so bad, you know?

May

May was a tricky month. A lot happened. I refrained from posting a lot about my personal life as it was a very bad time for me.

I first started taking a strong doze of anti-depressants this month. For the firs time in many years I was able to see myself properly in a mirror and think positively. I didn't reveal this because it felt embarrassing at the time that I had crumbled so much that I needed to become another statistic but I have been so lucky to have a doctor who I can easily work with until I make a full recovery.

June

I went to Edinburgh in the searing heat. I didn't get sunburnt, surely I should get some sort of award for this?

I made my 100th blog post and received a Lovely Blog Award and a Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you so much, everyone!

I booked an appointment to have my eyes lasered by Optical Express.

July

I didn't blog too much because I had my laser eye surgery and spent most of the time being banned from wearing make-up which can really kill a girl's mood!

Let's just face it. I didn't do much at the end of the year. My blogging interest fizzled out a little because I started writing a lot and playing a lot of video games. It's shameful, I know! It's not my fault I really like Saints Row!

Red Lips

As promised, here is my review of the Chanel lipstick I purchased last weekend. I am not being paid to say anything and all the opinions here are my own.

I set out to purchase myself a red lipstick last week and something drew me to the Chanel counter. Being as pale as I am it's really hard to come across a red lipstick which would look decent with my skin colour. Most shades are too bright or too dark and they just drain the colour away from the rest of my face. With some advice and after trying this on, I finally settled on this. It's from their Rouge Coco Shine range in shade 63, Rebelle.



This little lipstick set me back £23 which can be pretty pricey if you're not really into lipsticks. Chanel is a brand that most gals seem to love which and I can understand why. The lipstick is presented in a chic box and teh case is slim, but still glamorous. It's light enough to be carried around in a handbag.



My photos are with flash, it was too dark to take photos otherwise!

Out of all of the lipsticks I have, I think that this may be my favourite lipstick case. There's something I really like about it which I just can't put my finger on!



Apologies for the flash once again as it most certainly doesn't reflect the true shade of this lipstick! It's not as orange as this picture shows and it definitely looks red to me. The best way to describe it would be red with an undertone of coral which is always a really nice shade. It looks like this without the flash but as I said the lighting was really poor in the room and once again, this definitely does not reflect the shade of the lipstick.

The formula for this lipstick is definitely something else! I found this lipstick to be really moisturising on my lips and went on really smoothly. It looks glossy on the lips and it feels smooth on your lips. I found that it sometimes looked as though I had a lip gloss or something like it on which was really nice. I like the look of glossy lips but I can't stand lipgloss because my hair always catches it so for me this was really nice!

One of the downsides of this lipstick is that it's not very long lasting. I found it only lasted a few hours and had to be reapplied every two to three hours. But other than that I've not had too many problems with it.



This picture is tiny because I cropped my lips out of another picture. Once again, please excuse the lighting as it's not a true reflection of the colour but it looks like this on me. It may look different on you. It's not my favourite shade but when I need a bold colour or extra confidence I am sure that this will do the trick.

Pros:
❥ Moisturising!
❥ Perfect for those times you don't want to use lipgloss
❥ Attractive covers.

Cons:
❥ Reapplication is required every two to three hours.

Therefore, I give this lipstick a:
♥♥♥♥♡
4/5

Wanderings

First and foremost, my apologies! I had every intention of blogging yesterday but my internet decided that it was the perfect time to throw a tantrum.

Normally, I dislike wandering into town by myself because it normally makes me feel like I'm going to stand out like a sore thumb. I've been reading the Hunger Games recently and I was really getting into the series until I discovered my copy of Mockingjay was a big error and actually 2/3s of the first book in the series, The Hunger Games. This was more than enough inspiration to encourage me to go out and get the book replaced. Annoyingly enough, the store had shut so I'll have to go to another branch next time.

My code for the shopping trip was this:



Jacket: Primark
Top: Internacionale
Necklace: Urban Outfitters
Shorts: Unsure, they've been in my closet since I was 13 haha
Bracelet: Claires
Tights: Once again, these have been in my closet since I was like, 12 or 13 and I found them looking for a different pair.
Boots: Offbrand

I didn't have too much time to do my hair as I normally would have because I slept in and was running really late! My make-up was decentish, I suppose. I ended up taking off my false lashes because I wasn't satisfied with the lash I was using as it wouldn't blend in as well as I was hoping it would have. Lots of mascara made up for it though!

If you're wondering why I went for this sort of look, it was a challenge. Somebody told me they couldn't imagine me in this type of 'tough' clothing so the next day I wore this to get back at them! I can be tough! It's all about how you look and how you wear it. The attitude you give off helps so I decided that on that day I was going to be confident.

Whilst I was unable to have the book replaced, I did buy some things for myself.



I bought this make-up bag for myself with a bit of a French theme from Claires. I'm going to be travelling a lot in the next few months by planes and I don't want my three bags of make-up to weigh my case down. I bought this so I could just take my essentials. Do I really need 4 liquid eyeliners? I mean I know the brush types are different but...
I'm also really sure that I don't need 3 types of blush! For one or two days I'm sure that one type will be perfectly fine.

I went for a French themed bag because of my upcoming trip to the most beautiful place on Earth... Paris. Or Disneyland if I'm being precise. I'm super excited about going!



I also treated myself to a Chanel lipstick. I have a review for this ready to be posted soon! I'm much more of a lipstick sort of person than I am lipgloss as lipstick doesn't try to attach my hair to my lips.

I'll post again really soon, I promise!