Monday 16 December 2013

Jumping on the Christmas Jumper train.


Christmas jumpers are a huge trend this year. Gone are the days of those embarrassing hand knitted christmas jumpers from some distant aunt or your gran that you only begrudgingly wear on Christmas day so as not to hurt their feelings. Everybody seems to want one! I've seen so many people wandering around with giant robins or reindeers on their knitwear, that I thought I'd have a look around and I've featured my favourite finds of the internet. 
I think some of them can be a tad gaudy and tacky looking, but these are ones that aren't too in your face, and are still Christmassy. I think my favourites have to be the reindeer one from New Look and the Penguin one from Dorothy Perkins. Unfortunately, I haven't actually been able to purchase one yet, due to spending a bit too much on people for Christmas and then purchasing my Miley Cyrus tickets for my friend's birthday next year! (I know, I know, but I still love her! She may be my guilty pleasure..)
Have you all found your holiday jumper? Let me know your favourites below!
xo.

Thursday 5 December 2013

Treat yourself.. You know you want to!

So with Christmas just around the corner (yes that's going to be mentioned a lot, I'm a kid when it comes to Christmas time, especially now I have one!) the discounts are in full swing online. 
I know you're probably all really busy with buying your friends and families presents and might not have any money to spare, but if you're anything like me, when you see that big 'Sale' or 'Up to such and such % off' you need to go check it out. 
I've been getting emails left right and centre from lots of different clothing sites luring me to their savings and here are my top five including some peaks at what's on offer!

River Island.
Up to 20% off all jewellery. 
Starting with the smaller of the discounts (but by no means to be overlooked) is the River Island up to 20% off all jewellery. The necklace was originally £7 down to £5.60. A small saving, but every little helps! I love this necklace, and as I'm not a fan of those huge statement necklaces, I still like to have a bit of sparkle (what girl doesn't?) and this necklace is so pretty! The earrings were £3 reduced to £2.40, which yes, I know isn't the biggest of savings, but they're so dainty and would just add something extra to your outfit. 

Asos
up to 30% off party wear
As you can probably guess, the majority of the sales and discounts floating about lately are for party wear, which makes sense with the all important New Year's Eve parties creeping up on us. I thought I'd pick two items that could actually be a whole outfit. The playsuit by Little Mistress was £48 reduced to £38, giving a pretty good saving. I love the fact it has sleeves, I will never understand those girls who go out in the dead of winter with barely nothing on and no coat or jacket! Although it's pretty plain and black, the little embellishment on the shoulder gives it a little sparkle. The heels by Blink were £55 reduced to £28. I like the subtle silver floral design on the heels which I'm assuming would look great when they catch the light.


Topshop
up to 30% off party wear and jersey basics
Again another party wear discount to the same amount as Asos. They didn't have much in the way of dresses in the party wear section which I thought was a little strange, maybe I'm just more of a fan of dresses for parties.. Anyway, I found this lovely pair of blue embellished side shorts with sort of a chiffon overlay. They were £45 now £30 so quite a good saving, although to me £30 on one pair of shorts is a bit much. The one dress I did like was this lovely blush lace floral dress. It is sort of a spring dress, but pastel colours are still in for winter, so why not? It was £49 reduced to £32 so not bad really! 
The other savings they're offering is on jersey basics. There wasn't much I was all too fond of, but I did like this burgundy long sleeved top which was already a good price of £18 reduced to an even better £12! I'm always on the lookout for thinner jumper type layers to wear over vest tops and I love this! The dress is also quite plain, and some of you may be thinking that it is way too cold to be wearing in this weather, but with a leather jacket a thick scarf, tights and some ankle boots, you'd be just as warm as in leggings! It was £12 now only £8 so I think I may have to look out for this on sunday.

 New Look 
up to 25% off coats and boots
I always love New Look's boots, so when they have sales on them I have to check them out. This pair of grey, low wedge lace-up boots are pretty similar to a pair of black wedges I bought last year and are so so comfortable my mum's bought me a brown pair for Christmas this year! This particular pair was £24.99 reduced to £18.74 which is pretty good for shoes these days! The over the knee boots are similar to a pair of Kelly Brook boots that my friend fell in love with a couple months back, but with a chunkier heel. They were £39.99 reduced to £29.99 so still a bit pricey, but I'm sure they'd be worth it! 
The Leather biker jacket rears it's head again! Even though I have one, I still find myself lusting over pretty much every one I see online.. I don't know why. This one was £39.99 down to £29.99 which is really cheap even for a leather-look! The navy toggle coat is another that's not usually my style, but caught my eye. I'm happy with both my coats, I have the short leather jacket one and a longer one, so I won't start hoarding them, but if I hand't already bought my long black mac then I'd probably be getting this coat. It was £34.99 reduced to £26.24.

Miss Selfridge
up to 30% off everything!
Ah Miss selfridge you have to stop doing this to me! I love all three of these items and if the majority of my bank balance wasn't spent on Christmas presents in Leicester yesterday, they'd already be on their way to me! The Distressed dark wash jeans are down to only £26 from £38, I don't know what it is about ripped jeans, I've always loved them ever since that pair that Peyton used to live in on One Tree Hill caught my eye. The beautiful embellished cami top is £28.80 reduced from £32. It's not the biggest saving, and being the most expensive of the three, naturally I want it the most. If I try it on in-store and fall in love with it, maybe I can figure out a way to not feel guilty about buying it! The floral scarf  is only £11.20 reduced from £16! I did actually see this online about a week ago and I'm always funny about buying scarves online due to not knowing how big they'll be. I bought a scarf from internacionale a while back and it was so tiny I couldn't even tie it round my neck! Despite this, I did actually see it in-store yesterday and it's perfect! I did ponder over it for a good five minutes… maybe on sunday? 

I'm going to stop rambling now before I talk myself into placing an order online! 
Have you found any other great savings online lately? Let me know :)
xo. 

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Christmas Gift guide 2013

Here it is as promised, my christmas gift guide for this year!
I realise that it's only what, 22 days until Christmas day now? But even still, I've been horribly unorganised this year with my gift buying and still have a huge list of things I need to get people! If you're stuck what to get a girlfriend or friend or even just a little treat for yourself then I hope this will give you a few ideas!

Under £10


First up is the beauty for under £10, these items are perfect for little stocking fillers and are all really friendly on the old purse strings. The Maybelline Colour show kit is a perfect little gift if you want to get something but don't have that much money. It's only £7.99 for the kit and contains three lovely colours that are huge this season, I'm especially in love with that burgundy red..
Next is the Sweet snuggles bath fizzers from Superdrug and only cost £2.50! I'm a huge fan of all the Lush bath bombs and fizzers, but find that they're sometimes so expensive for what they actually are and I have to really have the money spare to feel okay about buying them. This trio is a cheaper alternative and come in some pretty cool colours!
Third is the Anatomicals 'fine stress we've gotten you out of' relaxing bath kit available at Tesco for only £6.50. I love all the names for their products, although they're quite long they are memorable and a bit funny which is always a good thing. The kit contains a tub of bath salts, a thermal face mask, inflatable bath pillow and candle, which if you ask me, for £6.50 is pretty darn good!

So I've just realised that this post is going to be quite a long one, so I apologise if I drone on a bit! This is the top three fashion gifts under £10. I have a huge addiction to scarves come winter time and this Deana star scarf from Boohoo.com is so pretty I may need to add it to my collection! It's only £6 and also comes in grey if the blue doesn't do it for you. There are so many scarves about this winter I think I'm going to end up bombarded with them! The Heart print touchscreen gloves from George are another bargain at only £5. I've always been a bit skeptical about these touchscreen gloves, my phone is terribly sensitive and picky and doesn't like to work with my actual fingers sometimes so I don't know how it would react to these! Even if they didn't work, they're still a pretty cute pair of gloves. This Golden triangle necklace from New Look is my favourite of the the three, I just love the simplicity of it and necklaces are always a welcome gift for me. It's only £5.99 so I may be asking for this to magically appear in my stocking this year!

Under £30

If you have a little more to spend then these will be right up your alley. The Nivea pampered skin ultimate collection is only £15 and I think it's a Boots exclusive (I couldn't find it anywhere else). You get two honey face masks, the nivea pearly shine lip balm, body lotion, facial cleansing wipes, hand lotion and the soft moisturising day cream (as featured in my Time to prime, moisturise and shine post). All this for £15 is pretty good and I think it'd a great little gift, the packaging is pretty too! Next is one on my own Christmas wish list; the Real Techniques 'sam's picks' brush set which I found whilst browsing Lookfantastic's website. It's right under the £30 price tag at £29.99, but considering these brushes range from £7 upwards, that's not a bad price. In the kit you'll get a multi tasking brush (for powder, blush and bronzer), a setting brush (for controlling powder and highlighter), buffing brush (full coverage of powder and mineral foundation) pointed foundation brush, essential crease brush (perfect for contouring the eyes) and a fine liner brush (for liquid and cream eyeliners). 
Last is the Benefit world famous neutrals from the feelunique website. It's only £23.50, which for benefit is good! It's got two cream eyeshadows and four powders, so something for everyone.

So, naturally I was scouring New Look's website when researching for this gift guide and I found quite a lot of lovely bits and pieces. This Pink and white fairisle prancing deer jumper is only £27.99 and is one of the nicest Christmas jumpers I've seen. I hate the ones that are so vibrant and in your face, I just know I'd be wasting my money on them, whereas this one, I think I'd actually wear throughout the winter. You may also remember I was moaning on about how I couldn't find a good sized winged bag a couple of months ago, so of course I was instantly in love with this colour block winged satchel from New Look and at only £19.99, I may have convinced my mum to get me it for christmas! It's killing me to know it's sat up in her wardrobe and I have to wait another month for it! Lastly in the under £30 is this funky little pair of knitted snowman slippers from River Island. You know how people buy a new pair of gloves every winter because they're bored of their old ones? I do that with slippers. I love slippers, especially the boot style ones. These are only £17 so the cheapest of the three and they are so cute!

£30 and over

Naturally the NAKED palette had to be on this list, the amount I've been banging on about it lately. The most expensive on the whole gift guide is this Clinique part favours set coming in at £55 from Boots. Included is:
  • All About Eyes, 15 ml
  • Limited Edition All About Shadow Compact in Crystal Pink, Hazy, Raspberry Beret and Chocolate Covered Cherry, 4.8 g
  • Quickliner for Eyes Intense Black Honey, .14 g
  • Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour in Roundest Raspberry, 3 g
  • A Different Nail Enamel for Sensitive Skins in Cosmo Chic, 5ml
And it all comes in a pretty little pink and purple bag! If you love Clinique and have the money to spare, why not treat yourself? 
One thing I've seen on quite a few other beauty blogging pages is the Nails Inc Polish Diary which is only £42 at Feelunique (it retails at around £132 apparently so it's a bargain!). You get a different colour nail varnish for every month of the year, so you don't have to worry about what colours to paint your nails! And it all comes in a sophisticated little box booklet.

Of course I had to add some more knitwear and a jacket to the collection. This Burgundy Military coat from Missguided isn't usually my style, but it just looks so chic, I wouldn't object to having it in my wardrobe. It's £34.99 so pretty average for a good coat these days, which isn't too bad. The Asos embroidered collar top caught my eye while scrolling through their site. It's £36 so a little pricey but worth it. It also comes in white and I think the sheer material just makes it look so classy and would be a great little piece to wear to that all important Christmas party! The Fluffy polar bear jumper is £32 from NEXT. I'm not usually a big fan of adult clothes from next (I love them for Tayla's clothes, just wish they were cheaper!) but this polar bear jumper just looks so cosy. Like the pink jumper above, it's another one that you could wear all throughout winter, not just at Christmas time!

Well there you have it, my personal gift guide for Christmas 2013, has anything caught your eye? What items have you been lusting over and writing on your lists?
Off to Leicester for some Christmas shopping tomorrow and then to Milton keynes for some more on Sunday, check out my Instagram for some pictures! Hope you all have a good Tuesday :)
xo.





Monday 2 December 2013

Autumn Beauty Favourites

Ahh I've done it again haven't I? Been neglecting you lovely people over the last few weeks! I do apologise been quite busy with uni work, and Tayla's been catching every illness known to man, this week it's a chest and throat infection, so happy days! 
Anyways I did promise an autumn favourites post quite a while back so I thought I'd better keep to my word and show you what I've been loving lately. 

Ta-dah!
I've already mentioned the Barbara Daly highlighter in the last post; Time to prime and shine! which I'm still in love with (now that I know where on the face to put it) and the Maybelline Fit me foundation  which surprisingly is the same bottle I got in that post (link above) and I've been using it pretty much everyday! I've also already mentioned the Orly red sparkly nail varnish which I've been using quite a lot lately, as I'm in love with red this season!
The other thing not mentioned but I'm not really going to go into too much detail about is the Nivea pure and natural facial cleansing wipes, which have actually been some of the best facial wipes I've bought. They're great for sensitive skin and they get make up residue off really well! Only thing is they're perfumed (it's a lovely smell) so if that usually irritates your skin, I might stay away.




I have previously mentioned this pallet in the NAKED copycats post a couple of weeks back, and told you all of how Tesco have stopped selling this brand in stores. Well as I love VIVO and they did actually have one (yes one, how lucky am I?!) in the clearance bin at Tesco the other week, naturally I had to buy it. I'm usually strictly a pinks and purples kind of girl, but lately I've been really really into browns and bronzes for eyeshadows, it must be the weather! I really am running out of room to do swatches due to my tattoos creeping their way up my arms, but here they are. I've been favouring the lighter colours as a base and then putting one of the more matte brown colours on the outside corner and swiping over the gold in the crease to give my eye a bit of sparkle and I must say I'm loving it and it goes with any outfit!

I got this Seventeen cream eyeshadow from Boots when they had their 3 for 2 offer on last month. I'd been on the lookout for a cream eyeshadow but I've always been a bit skeptical as I used to use them daily and they made my eyes feel really sticky. This one I must say is very light and quite vibrant as well, it doesn't stick at all! I love the little pot it comes in too, I'm a sucker for leopard print! Unfortunately it appears that Boots no longer sell this eyeshadow so it may have been a limited edition. 

These are the other two items I got on that same 3 for 2. I have never actually bought anything from the Seventeen range, but from the three items I have I can only say positive things. The Instant glow bronzing powder is actually my first bronzer, I don't really need it during summer time as I usually get quite a natural blush anyways. This particular bronzer was £4.59 and it's been working great to give my face a healthy glow. I've been applying it with this Seventeen shimmer brush, which is really really soft and does apply it quite well, but I think it would go on better with an angled brush. (I do need more brushes, so maybe I'll have a look for a good angled one, any recommendations?) 

Now for the body and hair! 
During these horrible winter months, my skin goes so so dry, especially my legs. I've found that by putting this scrub from Calcot Manor (only £1.99 at Tesco!) on my legs before shaving them and then following it with the Nivea in shower moisturiser has made my legs unbelievably soft! And it's only £1.99! Another favourite of mine lately has been this dry shampoo from Batiste that my Dad actually brought me home from work as they were handing out samples in Leicester. This particular one is supposed to have a hint of brown, which I obviously can't see because I have black hair, but still. It is a lot better than the last one I've used, makes my hair feel quite clean even if it looked horrible before! And it strangely smells like popcorn.. not sure if this is good or bad, but there you go. 
As for what I've been washing my hair with lately, I always favour the Herbal Essences collections and as I'm incredibly lazy and hate straightening my hair during the winter, this Tousle me softly shampoo and conditioner gives my hair a bit of a tidier wave to it meaning I only have to straighten my fringe!

Anyways there you have it, my top beauty items of the season. I'll be researching for the best beauty and fashion gifts for Christmas hopefully to post tomorrow or Wednesday (I promise you!) so keep your eyes peeled! 
xo.