AW14 Haul (Part 1)

Hello again!

As we are moving into October, I thought now would be a good time to upload my first Autumn/Winter haul featuring items & products that I've purchased recently. The sun was shining & it was actually really hot on the day that I chose to do this, so it may not look very Autumnal! Some of the pieces are not entirely winter looking, but the colours & patterns certainly are as well as the cute details. As it gets colder I would piece these looks together with cosy jumpers, cardigans & tights, but you get the idea! The retailer and price will be listed below each photo, enjoy! 

Dress, £34.99, River Island

Boots, £29.99, New Look

Jumper with faux leather sleeves, £12.99 H&M

Leggings, £25.00, River Island

Loafers, £8.00, Primark

Leggings & Loafers as above

Tunic top with faux leather panel, £30.00, River Island

Top, £16.00 and black high-waisted Joni jeans, £36.00, both Topshop

Loafers as above 

Monochrome shirt with sheer panel, £25.00, Topshop

Black Joni jeans as above

Top with scalloped details, £16.00, Topshop

Black Joni high-waisted jeans & boots as above

High-necked top, £11.50, Forever 21

Fedora, £7.00, Primark

Black Joni high-waisted jeans and boots as above 

White top with black mesh detail, £26.00, Topshop

Black Joni high-waisted jeans and loafers as above

Navy shirt with gold button detail, £10.00, Primark 

Black ripped Leigh jeans, £40.00, Topshop

Loafers as above

Burgundy knitted bobble hat, £2.50, Primark

Burgundy knitted gloves, £1.50, Primark

Black long sleeved top with button detail, £7.99, H&M

Jeans, £19.99, Bershka

Long knitted jumper, £12.00, Primark

White basic tshirt, £6.99, H&M

Jeans and loafers, as above

And the ultimate AW14 fashion purchase....!

Penguin Christmas jumper, £12.00, Primark

Jeans & loafers as above

As well as clothing, I have also purchased a few other AW products. I LOVE Yankee Candles, especially their Winter ranges, so I was thrilled to see these in my local Asda superstore.

The set was £6.00, and I also purchased the individual one for £1.00 as it wasn't included in the set but I loved it! I love the wintery, Christmassy scents of this collection and can't wait to start burning them!

I also visited the MAC counter at John Lewis to pick up some new products and walked away with this!

MAC Pro Palette, £4.00 

Pro palette refill shadows in Shroom and Sketch, £10.00 each

Annoyingly, the Sketch shade looks brown here but the shade is actually a deep purple, and it's GORGEOUS! It blends so nicely and creates the most perfect AW smokey eye. 

Finally, I purchased 3 of the new L'oreal Colour Riche shades, shown below.

£6.99 each (though purchased in a 3 for 2 offer), Superdrug.

I will be doing a separate post on these once I have worn them a few more times so that I can give a more in-depth review. 

And that concludes my first AW14 haul, I hope that you enjoyed reading & found some useful AW pieces that you might purchase! I am planning to do another one once I have gotten round to purchasing a coat and some extra pieces so keep an eye out for that! Comment below with your favourite pieces & let me know of any other essentials that you have found for the new seasons! 

Until next time xo

The Body Shop Product Review

Hi guys,

I just wanted to write a quick post about something that I stumbled upon unintentionally, but I love! I'm talking about the Warming Miracle Mask from The Body Shop, which was given to me as a free gift for signing up to the 'Love Your Body' card (full sized bottle I might add!). 

It's the first time that I have used a self-warming product, and I have to say that I was very impressed! As soon as I began to massage it into my face the heat started to come through, and it felt sooo therapeutic! The scent is also very pleasant without being overpowering. 

The mask acts as a clay when applied, I used a generous amount and spread it in an even layer across my face and left it to do its thing for about 5 minutes as instructed. The warming formula is designed to open the pores for a deep cleanse, whilst the ginger & cinnamon oils invigorate and the algae purifies the skin. 

Once finished, I rinsed the mask off and was happy with the result. It felt a lot softer & refreshed! I have used it quite a few times since then & will continue to do so, as it provides a nice pampering treat a couple of times a week. The product costs £10, so when my free bottle runs out I will happily restock it! 

Let me know your thoughts if you've tried this product, or if you have used any other self-warming products that you would recommend. 

Thanks for reading, until next time! 

August Favourites

Hi everyone!

Now I know that it's a bit late but I wanted to share my August favourites with you, as there were some real good'uns in there! 

Firstly, I'm only going to mention the Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream fragrance briefly as it's something that I've already blogged about previously (that's how much I love it!). It's the perfect light fragrance for daytime, with fruity & floral accents. Fab scent for Summer but one that's floral tones aren't too overpowering so can be used long into the Winter months, which is exactly what I shall be doing! 

Next on the list is my new favourite highlighter, the MAC Prep & Prime highlighter in 'Bright Forecast'. I first came across this product in one of Tanya Burr's videos and loved the fact that as well as concealing dark circles, it brightened the skin at the same time. This cost £18.50 from my local MAC store & it's one that I would certainly purchase again. I find that I don't have to use too much, one twist of the pen gives me enough to cover both eyes. Great little product!

Up next is something that tends to be a staple item in a lot of people's make-up kits, but is a brand new edition to mine! It's the Nars bronzer in the shade 'Laguna', and cost me £27 in my local Space NK store. Now, I haven't been away this Summer (I know, get the violins out...!) so rather than using this as a compliment to a healthy tan I have been using it as a contouring powder. Needless to say, it really is amazing and creates the most fantastic definition on my face! I don't use a lot of the product when applying so the price tag doesn't seem too unreasonable, and the results are so great that I was left wondering why it had taken me so long to invest in one!

There are 2 palettes that feature in this month's favourites, and first up is the Sleek i-Divine palette in Storm. My beautiful friend Hollie (aka Simply Dolly...check her out she's fantastic!) recommended Sleek eyeshadow to me after I got her a palette in last year's Secret Santa! Because it only cost me £7.99 for 12 colours I was a bit dubious about the quality, but I cannot emphasise how impressed I was with it! The colours are mineral based & so pigmented that they give brilliant colour that lasts all day. The mix of shades is perfect for creating so many different looks, and I have to say that I prefer it to my Naked palette (controversial I know!!). My favourite shades so far are 'Calm Before the Storm', 'Eye of the Storm', 'Dust Storm' and 'Snow Storm', which is great for highlighting the inner corner of the eyes! The packaging also has tips on the back for colours to use for creating different looks which I really liked. I know there are other i-Divine palettes available in Superdrug so I will certainly expand my range in the near future. 

The second palette in my favourite list is the 'Foxy' palette from HD Brows. I started getting HD brow treatment a few months ago and purchased this kit at my first session. Annoyingly, my eyebrows grow unevenly as there are patches of hair that don't grow as much as the rest. Because of this, powder is great for me as it sits on the skin and masks the patches, whereas gel products tend to only sit on the hair of my brows. This kit cost me £25 from the salon where I get the treatment, but is also available online. My eyebrows have never looked so good thanks to this palette! I blend the 2 brown shades when applying and then use the wax to fix the hairs in place. The palette also has a black colour which I have used as eyeshadow and a lighter bridge which has shimmery tones & works well as a highlighter on the brow bone. Considering I use this almost every day it had lasted me very well so far & I am thoroughly impressed with it. I even use the brush which comes with it which isn't something I usually do, as I'm normally a Real Techniques/MAC kinda gal! 

Finally, something for the lips! Making it on to my list this month is Rimmel's Baby Lips in 'Pink Punch'. I have a few shades from this collection but this was the perfect new addition for me. Where the other ones I have are glossy, this goes on with a matt finish and gives a really cute girly look! The coverage is very good and the scent is divine, it smells good enough to eat! The colour is bright & beautiful and the perfect lip colour to brighten up any look. At only £2.50 in Asda I was very pleased with this purchase and hope that Rimmel continue to expand their Baby Lips range.

That's it for my August favourites, I hope you found some of the product reviews useful & I would certainly love to hear your thoughts on the products listed. Please like & comment below with your thoughts, and as always thank you for reading!

Until next time xo

September Primark Haul!

Hi Guys!

Today I thought I would share my latest Primark haul with you as I know it can sometimes be hard to know what they currently have in range as there are no collections on their website, so I always find that these blogs are useful!

It's getting to that difficult time of year where Summer is almost a warm, distant memory and the Autumn months start to creep in. I love Autumn/Winter for many reasons…the cosy nights in, dark lipstick, layers of clothing, the TV schedule getting better, Christmas, comfort food and most importantly my birthday, which is the 10th October for those of you asking ;) I do find the transition period from Summer to Autumn slightly awkward though as I can never seem to decide what to wear. I think that during this haul I found some key pieces which will hopefully make the process of deciding what to wear that teensy bit less painful! So let's get started…

                    

Here we have some of my favourite items from the haul…the fedora and the cardigan. I am really not a hat person, for some reason they never seem to suit me but I think I might just get away with this one! It was a bargain at only £7, and it will look great with most Autumnal outfits. It doesn't look too oversized on me which is a real bonus! It is definitely a new favourite accessory of mine, and a key piece for AW14. The cardigan is a beautiful piece, it feels such good quality but only set me back £12. It is made of wool and feels so fluffy and cozy that you won't want to take it off! The cream colour breaks up the outfit well which will be great moving into Autumn where dark colours dominate. The necklace in this picture cost only £2.50 and since wearing it I have been complimented on it so much! It also comes in silver so next time I'm in Primark I will be purchasing that one too. Finally on to the dress. This was another bargain at £8 and taps into the checked monochrome trend that I am starting to see in many stores. The material is polyester but on this dress it doesn't feel too cheap and I think will look great with ankle boots and a pair of tights. As you can see in the second picture, it is cut quite low at the sides which is a trend that I loved this Summer so I am pleased to see it carry over!

                                            

                                            

                             

This next outfit is a checked dress with some very cute details! The second picture shows the collar, neck tie and the ruffled sleeves which I adore! The dress also includes the black slip that you can see underneath (which is ideal as the dress is very sheer!). This item costs only £13, which I think is very reasonable as once again it is of nice quality and bang on the tartan trend which I am SO HAPPY about being back this Autumn. I really love tartan! I think the shape and length of this dress is very flattering and it's an all-round winner for me. The shoes that I am wearing here were £6, which is a great price for such a comfy pair of pumps. The padding around the insole make them incredibly comfortable so I was very happy with these.

I always love to layer up with a checkered shirt in the AW seasons and needed to add a darker colour to my collection so this was the perfect find. It's great to wear with jeans, a pencil skirt or as a layer over a dress/long vest with some tights and boots. I love these kinds of staple items in my wardrobe as they really are versatile. The shirt was only £8 and of quite thick material, but I did find that it comes up quite big (especially on the sleeves, very wide!) so I will need to take this back and exchange for a smaller size. 

Now this I loooove! It's worn as a twin set here, but they are separate pieces that I have just decided to team together as they are the same (gorgeous!) material. The jumper was £10, and much like the cardigan mentioned previously it is one of the cosiest things I have ever worn. It makes me feel like a sheep! The pastel blue is an unusual colour for AW. but I think that it works well because of the material and it compliments the black quite nicely. I cannot wait to wear this skirt when the weather turns colder. It will look great for work or down time teamed with a shirt or a basic tee and some tights. The mini skirt is back with a vengeance this AW and this item is a really cute & fun take on the trend. I paid £8 for the skirt which made me love it that little bit more! Fab find!

I wanted to show you this top that I purchased as Primark had it in so many different colours and prints and I recommend investing in some. It is a lovely shape, the v-neck is cut in a flattering way that seems to compliment the turned up sleeves. The material is of a good quality (I am actually wearing a black bra underneath it here but you can't see it!) and at only £5 I was very impressed with it. I have been obsessed with camis this Summer so I think this is a nice transitional piece for slightly colder days. I am also wearing burgundy nubuck loafers in this picture (sorry that you can't really see them) but again would highly recommend, they are only £8 and look great with trousers, leggings and tights.

The final 'fashion' piece that I bought were my amazing My Little Pony PJs!! I adore MLP so as soon as I saw these I snatched them up! They have scatterings of glitter on the vest and shorts, they couldn't get any cuter in my opinion. The set cost me £8 which I was more than happy to pay. I find that at the moment it is still quite stuffy during the nights so this is the perfect thing for me to wear to bed. Plus, it's My Little Pony so I would wear it even if it was freezing….!

Before I finish, I just wanted to show you the last item that I bought. I am trying to make a conscious effort to drink more water at the moment as I find that when the weather starts to turn colder, my skin dries out very quickly so I need hydrating. I came across this by the tills and had to get it as it really made me chuckle, plus combines some of my favourite things (cats and French!)

Isn't it cute?! I can't wait to start using it at work!

So that's it for my haul, as always thank you all so much for reading and I hope that you found it useful. Please comment below with your thoughts and let me know whether or not you would like to see another one of these in the future.

Until next time, xo