Coffee & Roses

post 101

2012-02-27T08:18:00.001-08:00

Hi girls, this is not some sort of odd blog-version of things I would like to ban, haha, but it is indeed my 101st post!

On this rather rainy Monday evening, I thought I'd share with you some cute pictures to mark ciento posts on Coffee & Roses.

Tiki is surprisingly easy to take pictures of, seriously he is the most relaxed cat ever.

PS. Blooper!

This picture made me laugh so much, Tiki looks like an alien.

coming SSoon / ellie's edit

2012-02-24T11:07:00.001-08:00

(L-R) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Another eclectic mix this weekend!

Inspiration was rife when putting this post together; the first shirt is totally Lana Del Rey's Born To Die cover look, the red dress Zooey Deschanel, and the final top Chistopher Kane. Some of these are more season transition, whereas the pink dress is a glimpse of what's to come.

Happy weekend!

may the odds be ever in your favour

2012-02-22T11:34:00.001-08:00

I know, I know - everyone is obsessed with the Hunger Games!

I am currently midway between the saga, and I literally cannot reccomend them enough, nor can I tear myself away from the pages. I won't go into detail, as quite frankly I could not do it justice, but I am totally caught up in the hype of the Hunger Games!

I also cannot wait for the film, although I doubt it will exactly live up to the books, I don't doubt it will send the Hunger Games's popularity through the roof, enough so to rival Twilight and Harry Potter (although I think those comparisons are unfair, as it is clearly a story in it's own league with no real plot similaries at all).

I just wanted to express my love for the books, tell me your thoughts!

duty free, guilt free / haul #24

2012-02-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the terrible title, I am so tired my puns have deteriorated! Please humour me, Ihope you’re all having a lovely Sunday, I’ve had an uber stressful day, but I’mlooking forward to blogging, eating and enjoying the rest of my evening now!

I thought I’d showyou a couple of items I picked up on Tuesday (yes, a singleton’s treat forValentines’ – tell me you’ve never done it!). You may have already seen myprevious post, I spent the day in Amsterdam and on the way home I couldn’tresist a trip to Duty Free on the ship.

Even though Amsterdam is such a great shopping location,many of the shopping districts are the same as the cities back here, give ortake a few European fashion stores. On an unrelated note, I saw a Vila store,which is the brand I recently purchased some coating trousers from via ASOS,and it was the first Vila store I’d ever seen, so I’m guessing it is indeed aEuropean designer (just putting it out there!).

Anyway, as there was no point buying things when in Holland that I could get at home, I saved my holiday pennies for thelure of Duty Free’s prices. The Duty Free on a ship is obviously much morecompact than that of an airport, but I was surprised to find something I’dcoveted a couple of Christmas’s ago; the Urban Decay Book of Shadows III (alsoknown more simply as ‘the NYC palette’). This was limited edition, and althoughI really wanted it at the time (I love Urban Decay, I love NYC, the list couldgo on!), I unwillingly skipped it as it disappeared off the shelves very quickly.When I saw it again I knew I had to have it, however late and unplanned!

I won’t harp on about it too much; as I’m sure many of youremember the hype, but yes, it is indeed very pretty to look at. I’m havinglots of fun playing around with the shadows, I feel just a bit embarrassed toadmit I love Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, which many beauty gurus class as thework of the devil (I am indeed a sparkle enthusiast).

This is the 'wow' factor!

Those pictures were pretty bad, I took them in my excitement on the my onboard cabin, so I couldn't bear to retake them at home.

Secondly, rather impulsively, I picked up Jimmy Choo’sfragrance, rather originally named Jimmy Choo. I won’t murder the descriptionof the scent, but it’s a very distinct smell, quite strong, as many high-endperfumes are, and the perfect anecdote to my beloved eau des Jardins. I’m notreally one for statement scents, I prefer much more natural and lessooh-do-you-like-my-perfume scents. Hence anything slightly stronger than myfavourites such a Harajuku Lovers G(eternal summer holiday staple), or eau des Jardins, is immediately daubed an‘evening/event scent’ (ho ho that rhymes). To conclude, it definitely seems tobe one to turn heads (in a good way!).

Although I don't typically embrace the 'perfume scent' if you know what I mean (basically the collective scent of the perfume counters, or a roomful of perfumed women!), and prefer things a bit lighter and more distinctive, I am definitely a fan of this one!

The bottle is so pretty and it looks very sophisticated and elegant on my dresser.

On a side note, earlier today I picked up Elle magazine to give the new Soap & Glory cosmetics range a whirl, with the free mascara.

I haven't tried it yet but it's a decent size, and as for a magazine freebie, you can never go wrong.

And if you do pick up Elle, have a wonder at Jimmy Choo and tell me what you think!

That's all for tonight, have a fun evening :)

when in amsterdam

2012-02-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

...get snap-happy, obviously!
Amsterdam is such a wonderful city, it's a bit like a European version of London, but much more liberated. Full of birds and bicycles, it was a lot of fun to explore on the trams (the main kind of vehicles around), and I thought I'd share my day with you.

I took so many photos of the quaint canals and the townhouses!

Most of the canals had thawed, but there were still a few iced over.

If you ever wanted inspiration to get a bicycle, go to Holland!

Even LUSH had it's own bicycle! In terms of shopping, Amsterdam was wonderful. There were brilliant highstreets and also a few shopping centres, such as the stunning Magna Plaza.

Those were just a few of the photos I took, and I think they speak for themselves. I had a great day, and I wouldn't hesitate to return to Amsterdam.

Happy Thursday!

off to the netherlands

2012-02-13T03:18:00.000-08:00

Hey hey,

This is a quick hello (and goodbye!) as I am heading down to Dover in a few hours to take a ferry to Amsterdam, so I can spend Valentines' Day with my family in Europe.

Although snow is a thing of the past here, apparently in Amsterdam it is currently a winter wonderland, and the historic canals have frozen over for the first time since 1997, and they're being used as ice rinks! I found a video on YouTube, uploaded over the weekend, where you can see the iceskaters.

At the weekend there was even an ice skating race held on the Keizersgracht canal, a distance of 150 metres.

I am totally in awe of Holland, and as it is my first trip there (every year I plan to visit one European country), I am so excited to experience it.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines' Day, as soon as I am back I'm sure I'll be giddy to share my experience with you all. I plan to take loads of photos!

PS. I have reached over 350 followers and I am SO thrilled! Thank you everyone, you have made my week :)

What's a post without a little handmade something from me!?

crown of flowers / haul #23

2012-02-10T11:14:00.000-08:00

Two posts in two days - look at me being the reformed blogger, haha.

This Friday evening (hurrah), I'll show you a few things I ordered this week - beware, photographing clothes is not my forte.

ASOS is by far my favourite online store, there's always something I want from there. They stock a variety of fab brands, and their own collection is gorgeous too. Currently they are having an AMAZING sale on loads and loads of great clothes and accesories.

Firstly, I don't actually own anything too outrageously girly, so I can completely justify this top!

It's definitely not everyone's thing, with the 80s print or the cold shoulder cut, but I adore it. Lana Del Rey has totally brought back 'floral' for me!

This is the gorgeous ASOS model with it on.

It really is that bright in real life, although the flash of my camera has brought out the colours more harshly. This is a no flash shot:
My camera struggles to focus without flash (grrr), but in reality it's very pretty and quite a romantic floral.
This was in the sale at a fab £10! You can buy it here, although it's only available in a size 8. I'm a size 8 on top, but this top is actually massive and I'd say it's at least more of a size 10. I think it's meant to be a 'swing' design, so don't let the size 8 put you off.

The next thing I got was from Vila. I'd never heard of Vila before ASOS, but they have a truly gorgeous range. These are coating trousers, reduced from £30 to £20. I got a size M, which fit quite snugly but I'm sure after a few wears they'll shape well.

They're stretchy but tight - I think it's because of the material mix (it's something like denim and polyester).

My final ASOS purchase were these gorgeous loafers.

I had wanted loafers for ages, but most were too 'overdone' for my casual style. When I found these on ASOS, with their contrast sole and navy, suede appearance, I knew they were perfect.

They fit perfectly and cover a decent amount of my foot - I cannot bear toe cleavage.

I guess this is what I will wear for Valentines' Day, which I am spending in Holland with family (not family from Holland, sadly my family are very British).

How will you be spending Valentines'?

PS. Hello and thank you to my new followers! I have had a recent influx and I am so over the moon about it - remember to introduce yourself if you are a new follower so I can say hi!

eau des jardins

2012-02-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

I have to tell you guys about one of my new favourite perfumes.

First up, I should just say two things; I LOVE PERFUME, and I cannot describe a scent to save my life.

So, Eau des Jardins from Clarins (it all sounds very lovely - I'm guessing it means something along the lines of water garden in French? I'm a Spanish student!). I received this for Christmas, I was very lucky and received two gorgeous perfumes this year; the other is Lady Million by Paco Rabanne, which is a completely different cattle of fish but still very lovely.

The bottle is made of very pretty multicoloured glass, which looks lovely in the light. The scent is crazily uplifting, clean and soft. It smells like you just got out of the shower on a summer morning. It has hints of grapefruit, which is a zesty fragrance in a lot of my other beauty products such as iFoam and Butter Me Up, which are two fresh-smelling Soap and Glory spa products I use in the mornings.

I love anything citrus and sweet, and this is the perfect balance for a light, spring scent. I recommend you have a spritz the next time you're at a Clarins counter in Boots - it's seriously worthy of the title 'spring in a bottle'.

PS. I have no idea why I've gone all 'summery', I blame it on LDR! LISTEN.

where I blog

2012-02-08T05:19:00.000-08:00

Hey again,

Before I start this post, I really want to say a big thank you to all of my followers for welcoming me back into blogging and reminding me once again why I love it!
I've seen this post doing the rounds, it's such a fun one too, I love reading more about 'behind-the-scenes'. I have to admit, most I've seen are pretty, tidy desks dedicated to blogging, and in my world no such thing exists.
I have no dedicated blogging place, I am on the move alot so I blog wherever really (indeed sometimes at a desk, actually), but around seventy percent of my blogging time is spent here; one of my favourite places - my bed.

Not much to see in this snippet of my bedroom, my lantern (which was actually lit, until the cyan effect blew it out), my current book (The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - more on this later!), my beloved sparkly cushions, my trusty blogging notebook, and my new laptop (a shiny blue thing of wonder). Effectively we all have my wonderful father to thank for my return to blogging hehe.

And distant weekend memories...

I know I'm a million hours late to the snow pictures brigade, but, opposite my bed is my window, so when I blog that's actually my main scenery (obviously now without the snow, or the blue tint - that'd be weird).

Well, there we have it - definitely not as interesting as some, but that does happen to be where I'm sitting right now. Now for the question; where do you blog?

spring king / ellie's edit

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

L-R: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

(unintended gradient effect - I basically ran out of clothes haha)

Hey guys,

I can't believe how long it's been since I did an 'edit', they're so much fun to do, and quite easy (window-web shopping and printscreening even I can manage!). I'll try to make it a more monthly feature.

These are basically the clothes I've been lusting after this month (for some reason that term creeps me out!). Whenever I look in my wardrobe it's hard not to notice quite how random my style is. Asking those close to me to define it is very funny - "sometimes boyish, no, quirky, no - quite, mmm" - it generally ends up as unlabelled. As cliched as it sounds, I literally go for whatever I like the look of on myself. I love all ten items, as mismatched as they look together; the crazy Aztec shorts, the fluro stripes of the pink sweater, the flamingo print, the plaid - and of course, the unicorn. Defining my 'style' is unimaginably hard.

How would you define your style?!

snow days

2012-02-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

Hey hey...

Happy February!?

(And NY, hehe - life got in the way these past few months!)

This is my first post of the new year, which is officially terrible and makes me a blogger banished to exile, however I was treated to a new laptop this weekend and the first thing I wanted to do was return to my much-loved-turned-much-neglected Coffee and Roses.

I changed my header to something a bit more simple - I'm a shocking minimalist (kind of!). I really loved my old one, but it took up half a webpage and I equally love my new understated one.

New ~~love~~ obsession alert. LDR = ♥

I have a lot of planned posts ahead; I really wanted to just check back in, I'm so excited to start blogging again! February seems to be quite an eventful month; there are about a million and one birthdays, Valentine's Day, and a short trip to the Netherlands!

And finally...

This made me smile on weheartit!

remember this december

2011-12-24T09:52:00.000-08:00

Just a shortie to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas time and a happy new year. It's the most magical night of the year tonight!

Love always

black magic

2011-10-31T09:32:00.000-07:00

I'm embarrassingly proud of that banner!

For this Halloween weekend, I took a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon for the day with family. It's a really lovely town only twenty minutes away; I should really visit more often. I thought I'd share some of the pictures with you, it's quite a famous place around the world as it's where William Shakespeare was from.

All of the pictures above are were taken when I was on a barge boat ride along the river Avon, it's so pretty and even though the weather wasn't amazing, I think the pictures turned out okay!

This is Holy Trinity, Shakespeare's church. His grave is a popular tourist attraction inside.

As much as I love the scenery, walking around the actual town is just as fun.

Guess what I spotted when I turned this corner?

Visiting cute towns always manages to get back to Christmas, and I found this amazing shop.

More adorable shops...

In one of the quaint little sweetshops, I spotted a WONKA bar display!

In the RSC theatre, I found a lovely hair garland for only £3.99.

I bought an Advent candle from Holy Trinity.

And of course...

It was such a nice day, I love the end of October as it's nice to appreciate autumn whilst looking forward to winter. What are you all doing for Halloween?

PS. Geeking out with a Romeo & Juliet badge!

stars and colours / haul #22

2011-10-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

Hi girls, I hope you're all enjoying your Halloween weekend! I've got an actual 'Halloween' post for tommorow, so today I thought I'd show you a mix of things I've bought recently, since I haven't hauled since summer!

Last week I had my first proper shopping trip of autumn, and it got me so excited for Christmastime. Hopefully once we're into November the shops will get much more festive and stocked for the season. I had to go into Topshop, they have some lovely AW pieces this year. I picked up a lightweight knit jumper.

This time of year, the mid-season sales are great, I've much prefer them to the summer sales. This jumper was £20 from £34, and there are loads of other gems to be had in the sale! I have my eye on some pink loafers, sparkly jumpers tie-back cardigans.

I made my seasonly trip to Primark, there wasn't much I wanted so I settled on an outfit for my (non-fancy dress) Halloween party.

I fell in love with this blouse, it looks quite fussy on a hanger, but when it's on, it's actually quite understated. The navy is a bit darker IRL, and the stars add a touch of jazz to it. It's a V-neck with a loose bow, and it has a discreet top frill that breaks it up a bit.

This was a bargain at £10, and it seems perfect for autumn/Halloween.

I didn't know what to wear it with though, I wanted a really understated skirt and I found the perfect one for £4! It's a black bodycon (it also comes in mustard and electric blue, which I really wanted but there were only a few left)

It looks so washed out but the detail wouldn't show without flash.

I also picked up some coloured tights, cobalt blue and cherry red (a la Blair Waldorf!) for a snip at £2 each.

I bought two of these knitted hairbands, these aren't something I'd normally go for, but I saw Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter in one, and she looked lovely! They're really cute, I got one in cobalt blue and a teal one.

I'm still on the lookout for my winter coat, and I knew I had to get some good-quality winter boots. I really wanted these ones, but I realise they're probably not the most durable for winter, as pretty as they are. In Brantano (well, I did want durable!) I found some gorgeous brogue high-tops (I did just make that name up) by Red Level for £32. I really like them, they're tres comfortable and extremely durable through winter. Link

PS. And then I saw near-identical ones in River Island (cheaper material though) for £40!

I had a muse in Boots too...

As the nights close in and I become sleepier in the mornings, I decided to buy something I've wanted for ages. It's the Garnier Tinted Caffeine Eye Roll On, £10. It's such a nice product, it has a cool metal rollerball applicator, so it's a soothing treat in the mornings. I'd liken it to YSL Touche Eclat, but for half the price. I have the shade 'Very Fair', the only other shade was 'Dark', which is a bit of a downfall. Overall I'm very pleased with it.

I got another of the Maybelline watershine glosses, I really rate these for drugstore lipgloss. They're a dream to apply, it's hard to describe if you've never used one. The major bonus is they're under a fiver! I think I'll build a little collection! This one is Strawberry Carats (love the name).

Boots were having a 3 4 2 on pretty much all of their skincare, so I picked up a few 'essentials' (hehe). Because I'm obsessed with anything remotely honey in winter, I had to try out this new Garnier lotion with a crazy '7 day' claim.

As I'm running low on Angels on Bare Skin, I picked up this cleanser. I was so pleasantly surprised when I started using it, it's extremely creamy, it smells amazing and it takes off my eye makeup with needing a second makeup remover.

Another facial skincare product from Garnier that interested me was the new 2in1 makeup remover, similar to the much acclaimed Botanics one with the oil and water formulae.

Love love,

creamy candy

2011-10-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a sugary LUSH review this Sunday afternoon; I still have a heap of stuff to get through!

Review Category:

Bath and Body

Product:

LUSH Bubble Bar 'Creamy Candy'

Dodgy stock photo of the month!

Price:

£2.35 for 100g bar

Anyone else think it looks like a delicious chunk of cake...?

Mmm

Description:

"A sweet creamy candy-floss pink bath that’s like a hug in a soft fluffy towel. This one is a girly night in. Makes you want to put on your cutest jammies, bounce on the bed and have a pillow fight. For those who know that youth and innocent glee are things never to be left behind. We’ve put chunks of our solid bath oil mix in this bar, so you get creamy pink water and lovely soft skin. Creamy Candy started life as a bath melt. When Helen invented the solid bubble bar formula, the Creamy Candy bath melt went through a transformation and became a bubble bar. If you are vegan and always wanted to use this but couldn’t because of the candy flowers decorating the top – you’ll be pleased to hear that the flowers we use are now made specially vegan for us. Well, specially made for you actually!"

Opinion:

Creamy Candy is like a beacon of warmth and familiarity at LUSH. It's a strange one for me; I personally think Rock Star is borderline repulsive but all of the Rock Star spin-offs, Creamy Candy, Candy Cane (ltd etd Christmas bubble bar, not around this year, instead there is a soap with the same name..) are a hit with me!

I love most things candy-related (my beloved candy bear, Gelato, from Bear Factory, Katy Perry, LUSH etc etc) and Creamy Candy falls into that category. From the sweet scent to the adorable appearance, it's girlish charm never fails to allure me in LUSH. In the bath, the fluffy light bubbles and the swishily soft water delight me and scent my bathroom like a sweetshop.

Recommend?

Yes

Repurchase?

Yes

Rating

8/10

I've still yet to make a trip to LUSH since the Christmas goodies were released, I'm so excited but I think I'll delay it until mid November when it's Christmas mania! I have to fab LUSH Times to ponder over in the meantime :)

Hope you're all having a lovely autumnal weekend.

weekend whimsy #5

2011-09-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hey girls, I hope you're all well. The weather in Britain has been glorious during the tail end of September, I've had a wonderful weekend. I made a spontaneous trip to the seaside yesterday, I decided I had to soak up the last of summer. I loved having the sun on my face, I had an amazing day with family and I took plenty of pictures, as I still cannot believe it was over 25 degrees in October!

I thought I'd had my share of summer after Greece, but this weekend has been beautiful! I'm relaxed and happy now, it's amazing what the seaside can do to you! I'm off to have a browse of the LUSH Christmas Times now, have a blissful Sunday afternoon.

darling mermaid darlings haul #21

2011-09-18T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the recent absence, autumn is stabilising now so blogging is back on the priority list :)

I've got a haul today, mostly things I purchased at the tail end of summer with leftover birthday pennies.
I went to Superdrug last week and picked up a handful of products I've grown increasingly fond of as I've used them.

I was about to pick up my usual tropical Batiste, when I noticed there was a new haircare range stocked (I'm not sure if it was new, but I've never seen it there before). It's called Inecto and the products stocked were those of the 'Pure Coconut' range. This instantly rung a bell although I cannot remember for the life of me where it was I've seen it before. A girl was raving about the range on her blog, and if you happen to be that girl and you are reading this post, please comment so I can credit you :) I picked up the Pure Coconut Dry Shampoo (I'm so faithless to any brand, sorry Batiste) as it was on special offer at £2. It's not worlds apart from Tropical Batiste, but it's still really nice and you know when you get that feeling that it's different but you can't put your finger on why? I prefer this (it may just be the novelty of a new dry shampoo); it's so lovely and I highly recommend it if you happen to come by it.

I've been needing a new foundation for an absolute age. I'm a massive fan of tinted moisturiser, I've tried every one under the sun and I have only tried about six foundations in the past two years. However, I fancied a change so I thought I'd go for a new foundation. I decided on Bourjois, one of my ultimate drugstore favourites. I was torn between Healthy Mix and 10 Hour Sleep Effect, but I'll probably end up buying Healthy Mix some time soon, so I went for 10 Hour Sleep Effect this time. I absolutely love the little pillow on the bottle label, it's so cute :)

I find my skin looks so much more fresh, awake and generally better when I wear this. Let me know if you would like a full review, I'm really happy with this foundation so far and I've got lots to say about it.

This was £9.49 from Superdrug.

Something I'd totally 'skipped' in the beauty world was MUA. Not for any particular reason, I'd just never really been that interested. I think if it'd been more available I probably would have looked into it sooner. Anyway, I know I'm about a eighteen months late to this party, but I finally made my first MUA purchase, mostly to see what all the fuss was about.

I completely see.

I went and browsed at the stand for the first time ever (to be fair to myself it's not often I actually see an MUA stand, I'm not just super ignorant hehe!) and I was pleasantly surprised. I later found out MUA now have a Professional range, but this wasn't available at my Superdrug. I think the eyeshadows are probably MUA's best offering, although at a pound for everything nothing could really be complained about!

I bought two of the shades, (l-r) Shade 1, Pearl finish and Shade 17, Matt finish. I really like how MUA state their shade finishes, it's extremely helpful in store (I can't count the amount of times an eyeshadow has disappointed because it wasn't the finish I thought it was in store). I absolutely love these two shadows, I'm totally converted. They're super silky and pigmented, and such beautiful colours. I've literally went into addict-mode, I can't wait to get to Superdrug again to hit the MUA stand! I've used these eyeshadows pretty much every single day since I bought them, I'm so amazed and pleased with the quality. I really want to try out the Professional range now, particularly a certain palette (need I say more?!) hailed 'the £4 Naked palette'. New MUA lover here.

I also bought the two Ciaté nail polishes free with Marie Claire magazines in August. The first colour is 'My Fair Lady'. This one was so hard to track down. When I eventually found it in a WHSmith, there was a huge hole in the plastic, the Dove bottle was open and half of it was smeared everywhere, including all over the nail polish. But hey, it was the only time I was (probably ever) going to see the beige colour that was infamously sold out so I bought it (a few odd looks from the cashier as a result). You can see how this looks here. I'm a big fan, it's very similar to one of my favourites Desert Haze by ELF.

Although I'd already seen the shimmery purple about a hundred times before I found the beige shade, I must have softened afterwards because I bought the seemingly-unloved purple the next day so I had both shades. Plus, I had to convince you guys I wasn't a total nude-nailed freak, didn't I?!

It's actually so, so pretty, I think ironically I prefer it to My Fair Lady! It's always the way ;)

Each issue of Marie Claire also came with a Dove mini hair therapy product. This was an odd and unexpected bonus, as only half the issues actually had the Dove freebies in and Marie Claire didn't advertise the Dove freebies. I've already tried the product on the left, my mom is a fan of Dove and she likes the Hair Therapy Shampoo and Conditioner (that conditioner is below on the left). The product on the right, Nourishing Oil Care Express Treatment Conditioner is something I've tried once and it's left my hair in such a lovely condition. At first my hair was a bit flyaway but a bit of serum and styling fixed that, and my hair is delectably smooth and soft now.

I was in ASDA supermarket getting some snacks in when I saw the most adorable shoes ever!

It's tough to describe them, they're like 'pretty' school shoes that I wore when I was about six. They're so girly and old-school.

They are black and super-duper shiny, with a detailed trim going the whole way round the pump and a double strap with silver oval buckles. The detail can be seen more on the third picture.

I'm in love with them, they're so cute for a supermarket find, they were a complete bargain at £10, too. The sole is very sturdy, so I doubt they'll fall apart quickly. I'm not a fan of pumps, so as cute as the detailing is I have to admit the straps really sold them to me. I cannot wait to wear them with black tights and a Peter-Pan collar maroon or mustard dress.

My only concern was that they may show a bit of toe-cleavage (I really don't like that look!), but luckily they don't and I probably won't wear them without tights or socks (we have to keep it old-school!).

BTW, patented shoes are possibly the hardest things to photograph EVER hehe!

PS. Bit of Pushing Daisies nostalgia in the title for you! *sigh*

the comforter

2011-09-11T08:15:00.000-07:00

The return of the LUSH reviews - haha. Over spring/summer I was a bit light on LUSH but after my big haul last month, I was waiting for a chilly evening to indulge with a pampering evening. Last night the rain was atrocious and the wind was crazy, so a takeout and a soak in the bath was in order. For the bath, firstly I used Space Girl bath ballistic. My full review is here, but this basically just gave a tropical scent and pale lilac water. I then added half of The Comforter, read on for more!

Review Category:

Bath & Body

Product:

LUSH Bubble Bar The Comforter

Price:

£3.99 for 200g

Description:

"This fruity bubble bar gives the feeling of being hugged by a jolly blackcurrant. When life is getting you down, crumble The Comforter under hot, running water for purple water and creamy bubbles. The warm aroma of cassis absolute is relaxing so relaxing that you'll go to bed feeling happier and the world will seem brighter the next day."

Opinion:

I'm a big fan of this bubble bar. I prefer bubble bars to ballistics, but because LUSH offer a much bigger range of ballistics I probably end up purchasing ballistics more. The way you use ballistics is up to you, it's all down to personal preferance really. It was trial and error for me, when I was a LUSH newbie I essentially wasted so many products because I wasn't using them correctly. I soon got the hang of it though, and after a few times it becomes clear how you want to use them. The best results for bubble bars with me are to break it up onto an empty, but closed, bath floor and fill it up. I know some people crumple it under running water (with the bath full or empty) but as I said, this just happens to be the way I prefer most.

As for The Comforter, it smells absolutely amazing and as you can see, it produced a nice amount of bubbles, made the water silky and frothy and it very much lived up to the description and the reviews. The actual 'finished look' of it slightly reminded me of Think Pink, which is one of my absolute favourite LUSH products ever, but more bubbly and less bright. I enjoyed it and it's definitely a firm favourite. I used mine in conjunction with Space Girl, but as Space Girl is one of the more relaxed bath ballistics, with no crazy scent, features or effects, I think the combination was lovely and very fruity!

Reccomend?

Yes

Repurchase?

Yes

Rating

8.5/10

I pushed the boat out (I love that phrase!) with the fruity theme...

I loved the feeling of this mask, I thought it would be a cream sort of product, but the consistency was like doughnut glazing. This smelled very berry-ish, and it felt like I'd just had Botox when it was on; probably not for everyone, but I loved it!

More fruity favourites!

I just wanted to add a special thought, on this extremely reflective and important day. My thoughts are with everyone affected by 9/11, always in our hearts and never forgotten.

elf myself haul #21

2011-09-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's a super-windy September afternoon and I've just got back from seeing The Art of Getting By, I really am on such a cinema kick! I thought it was a really good film, very endearing. Before the back-to-school bump, I've got my first ELF haul here for you.

Giddy with summery excitement, I made my first ELF order back in July. I'd highly recommend signing up for ELF's newsletter; ELF are really generous and regularly announce great offers. I took advantage of one of their free shipping codes and the rest is history (ho ho ho).

I was like a child in a candy store (a virtual one, of couse); because I'd heard so much about ELF and their products over the years, I was literally spoilt for choice. An unexpected bonus was that quite a few of the 'cult' products were in stock, and they had a nice offering of newly-released products.

I didn't purchase anything from the 'normal' ELF range, apart from nail polishes. I'm not sure how new ELF's offering of a matte finisher for nails is, but as soon as I saw it I had to snap it up. I confirm it works as good as any, I adore matte nails and I stumbled across a nifty little 'look' by applying a sheer peachy pink nail polish and this on top; it looks like you have completely airbrushed nails and a perfect nail surface - I love it!

This nail polish is Desert Haze. I saw this on a blog late last year and I loved the milky take on greige.

The other nail polish is quite popular as far as ELF nail polishes go, it's called Gum Pink. It's a Barbie pink and if you're a fellow pink nail polish enthusiast, it's probably not massively unique but I still like it. For a slightly different take on it I mattified it (erm, I highly doubt that's a real word) and it really complimented my tan which is now a thing of the past *sob*.

I plumped for a couple of brushes, firstly the famous Powder Brush. I really like this so far, I've used it with multiple products, it's dense and still so soft; mine even has a few extra-long fibres for that extra-special touch(!)

This is the slightly newer Stipple Brush. I've been using this for any sort of powder (blush, bronzer and face powder) and I've been using the Powder Brush for my foundation. It's a bit backwards, but it works so much better. In my opinion the Stipple Brush is too long and soft to use to stipple anything other than powder, but it suffices as a great blusher or bronzer brush. Mine looks a little spiky here, it's because I'd just washed it, I promise!

Next up is a product I'm really excited about. I absolutely love tinted moisturisers, almost to the point of obsession. I have quite the collection, but I think my lack of foundation fancy cancels that problem out! Oh no, the new Studio foundation didn't interest half as much as this! An added appeal is it's loaded with vitamins and a fantastic SPF 20, so there was no way I was leaving without it.

The packaging is a jolly rip-off of Smashbox, and for some reason it's way bigger than necessary to house 25ml of cream, it makes it look half-empty. My shade is Nude, luckily ELF give a good description of each and every shade on their website so it's a great match. I'm a fan!

Next up is actually something I was surprised to see in my ELF box. I'd somehow mixed it up and ordered the High Definition powder opposed to the Mineral Infused Primer, which was what I'd wanted and I thought I'd ordered that. This product is never something I'd have ordered before, but of course now I have it I'll give it a go. I'm not a fan of powder at all, but to my surprise this is extremely fine milled and pretty translucent.

I also ordered one of the new Matte Lip Colours, my shade is Coral. This is really pretty on, and although it's matte it's not too drying and ELF have obviously thought about the formula a lot, and I really like the sleekness of a jumbo pencil instead of a lipstick.

That was the only lip product I purchased, it was only really face products I purchased apart from a few exceptions.

This is Complexion Perfection. I like the concept but I'm at a loss as to how to use it or to incorporate in into my everyday make-up routine. I already reluctantly use face powder, and I don't really want an additional powder, so I think this probably won't become an everyday fixture, instead more of a helping hand when my base hasn't cancelled out most of my uneven skin tone.

Not a great picture, but my camera washed out the extremely pastel shades. They look pretty much the same in person, though.

Next is the mouthful of a name which is essentually just a blush and a bronzer. I was wary of this product, it doesn't get great reviews and it's often slated due to the NARS comparison. I think once you've established it's not a dupe for NARS, most people are dissappointed, but I have to admit I love this product in it's own right.

The bronzer is extremely pigmented and the blush extremely shimmery, so I'd agree it's quite a challenge. I haven't really dabbled in the bronzer, it's very dark and I'm 70% sure it will always translate muddy on my skintone. However, the blush is beautiful. It's more of a statement blush than I'm used to, but I'm in love with the finished look it gives. I think the fact it's so out of my comfort zone and different to anything else I have definitely works in it's favour. It's very warm, perfect for brightening up my face in winter, with strong hues of coral and pink. I don't find the shimmer too daunting, in fact it adds fresh appeal for me, a former matte-face fan.

Finally, I purchased two of the bronzers, both of which I can't say I'm a huge fan of. First is the Golden Bronzer. I was unsure about this because shimmery bronzer is the biggest no-no for me and my skin finish and colour. As suspected, it doesn't really work on pale, uneven and oily skin at all. I can get away with this as a contour or highlight but that's about it.

I really did buy the Cool Bronzer *blushes*. I honestly cannot recall my reasoning, but it's an understatement when I say the deep reddy-browns do not work with me. I'm not really sure what I'll do with this bronzer, because it's likely it'll get even less use that the golden one. I want to just point out that there's nothing wrong with these bronzers as products, they're just not the right colours or finishes for me.

That's all I bought, mixed views but in general I can definitely be added to the ELF fan club. The three nail polishes were each £1.50, the Studio HD Powder was £6.00 and everything else was £3.50 a piece. The prices are great, although I'm not really sure why the powder is £6.00. The silly thing is I wouldn't have even bought the powder if it was the normal price, but because I had free shipping I wasn't too bothered.

As I've said previously, I have since made a second ELF haul, I made that last weekend but ELF have emailed me and said my order won't be dispatched until Thursday. It's pretty annoying but apparently ELF are busy. I'm not sure if that's a common thing, I can't even vouch for my first order because I was in Rhodes when it arrived (the maxium it would have taken was six days).

What do you all think of ELF?

the friday feel #4

2011-09-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

Happy September!

I thought I'd start September blogging with a melee of thoughts.

I'm tres excited it's September (winter Winter Winter Winter). Maybe I am a little obsessed with winter, but of course autumn has to have it's place first. August was a fabulous month (of course the weather is the exception there!); I have a soft spot for my birth month but no summer baby should have to have thunder and lightning on their birthday *sob*. Still, it was an amazing month!

I'm sad to see what we had of a summer go, and I'm insanely jealous of you guys only just jetting off this week!

I've been really enjoying cinema-going this summer, and my absolute film of the year is the Inbetweeners movie. I'm a huge, unashamed fan of the Inbetweeners and the movie was fantastic. I also loved Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I spoke a bit about that here. I want to see Friends With Benefits and The Art of Getting By. The most exciting film left to see this year has to be Breaking Dawn P1!

I recently bought a new dresser for more space, and as I had to re-organize all of my beauty products, I had a massive and overdue clear-out mostly consisting of make-up. I feel so much better now! It's like I have a new collection, I'm re-discovering and I think a downsize is the ultimate stress-killer haha! The downside is I've made two large ELF orders this summer; my first ever! The first order came a while back (I promise I'll blog about it soon!) and I've been really enjoying the new stuff. I made a second order recently.

This picture made me smile :)

Currently reading Private Lives by Tasmina Perry. At first I didn't think it was great, but about half way through I started to really love it. Almost finished it now, and thankfully it's more complex and gripping than I first thought. Wanting to read The End of Everything, When God Was A Rabbit and Hurry Up And Wait.

What are you all up to?

buff bluff

2011-08-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

Another nails post today! I'm totally relinquishing the freedom to wear nail polish, after I had a big nail polish ban for two months at the start of summer. I wasn't really 'in the mood' for nail polish so I exploited that and vowed to keep my nails au naturel. I can't really explain my reasoning, I went from wearing a different nail polish every day to not wearing it at all. I think I grew tired of it and got sick of my nails, so I thought I'd try it out. Sadly nothing really changed so I just started wearing nail polish when I wanted to. I was also buying so, so many nail polishes and my collection was spiralling out of control, but I recently had a big clearout so I'm fine (haha, I can trick myself so easily).

That reminds me, I have to do an updated nailcare routine, when I actually retrieve any sort of nailcare routine. I've totally let my nails go!

Anyway, this is how they currently look...

I didn't want to do this 'NOTD' because all of the photos looked terrible. I decided I should because it's a LE nail polish, and if I didn't do it now whilst it was available it would be a shame to do it in the future. I was photographing my left hand, which I hate! It's strange but I really don't like my left hand. My nails on my left hand are so much worse than my right hand, and yes I am left-handed so that's probably why.

This is my second Ciaté offering, this polish only cost me £3.60 as I picked it up in Marie Claire magazine. Said issue of Marie Claire has been on the shelves for about five weeks now, seriously I see it everywhere so it shouldn't be too hard to get your hands on it (probably the last few days now though). This will be featured in an upcoming haul.

This Ciaté nail polish is named My Fair Lady. To be completely honest I don't like it as much as I like Wait Until Dark or Sugared Almonds (I have a score of three Ciaté's now hehe). Wait Until Dark was also free in a seperate issue of Marie Claire, two new Ciaté's for £7.20 is pretty great! Considering my last one (which was my first one) was only £4.95 I think I'm doing well in the nifty bargain stakes!

It's literally the exact same colour as my nails, so it's just a 'my nails but shiny' colour, which is a new label within my collection. It kind of looks like a sheer colour with my nails showing through, but it is actually pretty opaque it's just extremely similar to my natural nail colouring. Obviously on different skintones this may look less natural, which isn't necessarily a bad thing!

I shall vow not to buy any more nudes for a long time. I'll probably get back into darker nails now, and as AW rolls around, I'll be whipping out No7 Totally Teal, Max Factor Gilded Ruby and my newest Ciaté Wait Until Dark (also will be feautured in said haul).

I cannot believe the atrocious weather of the August Bank Holiday, luckily I wasn't doing much today. My family and I decided we'd go to the zoo tommorow (strangely appealing) instead of having a day out today. I've just made another big ELF haul this evening, which has cheered me up. I made my *gasp* first ever ELF haul this same time last month (that was purely coincidence by the way, I'm not a total weirdo hehe). I promise I'll get around to showing you all the stuff, I'll probably do a massive collective ELF haul. I've really gotten into it, I guess I'm making up for never having tried ELF before!

Whew, I feel like that was such a rambly post, apologies!

How was your Bank Holiday?

the lush monster haul #20

2011-08-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

Hey hey, it's Saturday night and despite the heavy rainfall today, I've had a fun and partly-productive day. Just got back from seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes, it's amazing. I convinced my mom to come with me, she didn't want to because she thought it'd be a science/action film and she didn't like the originals, but after reading a heap of fab reviews I really wanted to go and see it (yes, mainly because of James Franco and Freida Pinto). We loved it (I cried alot) and I'm full on Maltesers now!

I decided I should get around to writing up my LUSH haul, probably because it's the most fun one I made! I went into LUSH on my birthday with friends (so twenty days ago now *awkward smilie*). The SA was, of course, lovely, and she gave me a special bag (check me out!) and some amazing free gifts. I desperately wanted to get my hands on It's Raining Men, since it's much-appreciated permanent re-release. Sadly, it had already sold out at my LUSH, I haven't given up yet though! Some stuff here are re-purchases (which is naughty because there's still so much I want to try!), but everything new will be reviewed over autumn and winter.

I'm glad we're getting back into winter, that's probably when LUSH is most appealing! I honestly don't know what I'd do without it for Christmas. LUSH Christmas is just the best thing ever and I'm already excited for it.

Cutest bag ever - non?

The first thing I picked up was Avobath. It's a LUSH old-timer but I've always shied away before because of the association with avocados (no offence, avocados). It's actually a mega-uplifting scent, prominently of lemongrass and sherbert, which strikes the perfect balance between sweetness and citrus.

Avobath £2.99

Secondly, I chose Big Blue, purely because I was mourning Greece (it was my first day back when I went to LUSH for comfort). The promise of turquoise water and fizzing seasalt lulled me. It smells amazing, even though I'm not usually one for the heavier, more sensual scents. It's a strange mix of lavender and lemon, but they seem to cancel each other out and create an altogether new scent.

Big Blue £2.99

An old favourite in the shape of Twilight found it's way into my LUSH bag. I don't really know what to say, other than I'll never stop re-purchasing!? Review here (a bit shabby, but my thoughts remain the same!)

Twilight £2.99

Another old love, but I mean seriously old. I don't think I've had a Butterball since something ridiculous like New Year 2010! I'm so excited to rekindle my Butterball love affair. Once upon a time, before Twilight and Think Pink, Butterball was consistently my No.1! It's a small but perfectly formed bundle of vanilla, cocoa and honey *has cuteness attack*.

Butterball £2.30

Moving on, I fancied something a bit different and I decided to take a leap and try and emotiobomb (please, please explain why they are called that or I might just write myself of as slow). Up You Gets seemed the only option because the other two were rather peculiar looking/smelling. Considering how unpopular emotiobombs are, Up You Gets smells quite pleasant; a blast of lemon, lime and grapefruit. Embarrassingly, I had to be shown how to use this in store, although it's quite simple - pop it on the floor of your shower (not directly under the water) and enjoy the invigorating steam or something. Or, of course, get a cheap bath bomb out of it.

Up You Gets £1.99

Onto the bubble bars (in truth I'm probably a bigger fan of these, that ballistic splurge was a rarity). I have an awkward confession to make; I've never actually tried The Comforter. Bizarrely, sometimes hype can detract appeal from a product for me, I'm not sure why but hey, why not? Lo and behold, I proudly purchased my first Comforter and I literally cannot wait to try it. It's possibly LUSH's most popular product, ever. It smells like a smoothie and looks like a giant bubblegum, not to mention it's ma-hoo-sive. I can't stop showing it to everyone within a five-metre radius of it.

The Comforter £3.99

Here comes the Creamy Candy - yippee. Honestly, I have a love-hate relationship with Rock Star and it's creamy companion. I used to be horrified by the scent, but at Christmas a turning point came, the Candy Cane. It was a perfect bubble bar, but even I can't deny it was certainly related to Rock Star and Creamy Candy. Since then, I've been longing for Candy Cane and even though Creamy Candy doesn't really compare (it has less vanilla and more Rock Star than Candy Cane), it's still a little remnant of Candy Cane.

Creamy Candy £2.35

My finally bubble bar was Ma Bar, which I bought for my mum. She needs weaning off Dorothy, it's her favourite thing ever from LUSH (Amandapondo closely behind). My own review of Ma Bar is here, it's a lovely little treat.

Ma Bar £2.50

Finally, I decided I would eventually try Porridge soap. I haven't bought a LUSH soap for a long time. In truth I'm not much of a soap person, but LUSH could sell shampoo to the bald. My all-time favourite is Honey I Washed The Kids, although I really like Demon in the Dark, Lemslip and The Godmother. I'm still undecided on Porridge, sometimes it smells delicious, sometimes it smells a bit like sick. I bought it on a whim because I knew I wouldn't if I pondered about it.

Porridge £3.95 for 134g

That was all I bought, and the sweet SA gave me some super-generous freebies, because I'd spent over a certain amount and also because it was my birthday.

I've never tried any of the lip products from LUSH, however tempting! She gave me both tints and a balm, I'm in love with It Started With A Kiss! It's the most natural 'red' ever! It's pretty deceiving because it literally looks like you have naturally red lips, I haven't stopped wearing it. Whipstick is amazing, and my mom's been using Double Choc alot.

Double Choc, Whipstick and It Started With A Kiss

Double Choc and Whipstick look very similar in the photos, but they are completely different textures (the tints have a really interesting feel) and Whipstick is much, much more sheer.

She also gave me Angels on Bare Skin. I'm in love with this cleanser, despite the strong lavender scent. I've been using it for the past two weeks and it's really lovely. It's such a popular product, containing almond, rose and lavender. It's a paste-like consistency, it was difficult to use at first but after trial and error I basically just take a small lump and smear it on my face and wash it off. The reccomended method is different but I tried that and it just didn't work. It's cleared my complexion, I've been struggling with pesky under-the-skin spots because of my bad eating/sleeping/excersising (or lack of!) lately but this has really helped the appearance of the skin.

Angels on Bare Skin

Finally, I had my products wrapped in a silk scarf. LUSH vintagely source a select few scarves and sell them in there stores as knot wraps. My SA cleverly assembled it into a secure flower containing my products, apparently that's how Japanese children take their lunches to school.

Square scarfs are possibly the most difficult thing ever to photograph, but mine is of the nautical variety. It had mixed reviews; my friend kindly said it looked like an American flag, my dad thought it was what travel representatives wore...

That's all for tonight girls, hope you're enjoying your Bank Holiday weekend!

What are you enjoying from LUSH right now?

mannequin hands

2011-08-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I ordered this nail polish from Ciaté. It was my first Ciaté nail polish, and I definitely like Ciaté nail polish and wouldn't mind buying more of them.

I picked the colour 'Sugared Almonds'. On the website it looked like a perfect creamy candy sort of colour, and it didn't dissappoint.

I only had to pay £5 for mine (I had £10 off the Ciaté website, but postage was £5 so I only saved £4 really); they retail at £9. If you do fancy any Ciaté, I'd reccomend ordering from ASOS because there are often sales on, and postage is free and quick.

I was initially dissappointed because any Ciaté nail polish of any acclaim was sold out on their website. However, as soon as I saw 'Sugared Almonds', a pastel peach, I was sold. I admit I have a serious 'thing' for pinks and nudes. This is so pretty, more of a peach-nude, which is fabulous because I have about 101 brown-nudes (ELF 'Desert Haze' is my favourite)! It seems to be completely impossible to find an opaque nude-coloured, creme-finish nail paint, and 'Sugared Almonds' is the closest I've got on this frustratingly-difficult challenge!

I like the effect - underdone but still prim. It's a great lazy nail polish, because the texture's fabulous and after one coat I was good to go. Looks effortless, practially is - what more can you ask for?!

celebrations in abundance haul #19

2011-08-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

I'm back! At the start of August, I flew out to the charming Greek island of Rhodes and had a blissful week. I flew back on the eve of my birthday (my birthday was the 7th) and since then this summer's been non-stop. It was also my blog's first birthday whilst I was away, so I couldn't wait to get blogging with all of my new ideas and inspiration. The catalyst was that I'd been totally absent-minded with blogging for a few months, and I really wanted to return to blogging how I used to. I received a new camera for my birthday (thank you parents!) so I'm really excited to get back into the swing of things.

I've started a new series too, you can check out the debut post here. I've been wanting to include more fashion, and I think ellie's edit is perfect for that basis.

Anyway, upon my return, (I've always wanted to say that!) I seem to have compiled a 'new things' hoard so I thought I'd show you guys most of what I bought and received from my holidays and for my birthday. I'll distribute it over a couple of hauls, but I'll start from the beginning now.

I love World Duty Free, with it's glittery floors and dazzling selection. I picked up a Victoria's Secret fragrance mist. I adore Victoria's Secret, in fact as they ship to the UK I was considering making an order. They have some great offers on. I opted for the scent Wild Scarlet, which is lily and apple - apple scented and I'm sold. They all smelt fantastic and edible, my other favourite was Coconut Passion.

Sadly I was restricted to what I could actually buy in Greece because it was coincidentally my wise idea to travel light and I didn't exactly have any room to take anything home with me. When I pored over pictures of Rhodes days before I left, pictures of exquisite dream catchers kept cropping up on We Heart It. I thought they were Native American treasures, but Greece did indeed have a few dream catchers here and there. The picture below is my favourite find, and this is what really inspired me to embark on a holiday mission of finding the perfect dream catcher.

It was actually in Rhodes Old Town, the most historical, beautiful and cultural place I visited all week, where I found this jubilant gem among the fuchsia flowers and white-washed walls in the winding open streets. I was thrilled and I'll be placing this pride of place above my bed.

That was the single souvenir I brought home with me. My main birthday gift was presented to me on the first day of my holidays, even though my birthday was seven days later. My wonderful mom had brought me a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses. I was elated, although I'd had a vague idea of my birthday present I had no inclination about Ray-Bans. I'm a massive sunglasses person, they're my favourite accessory when applicable. My mom knew my ultimate pair of sunnies were classic Ray-Bans, and I literally didn't take them off on holiday. Mine are the classic black Wayfarers, this style.

When we returned home, my family were really sweet and presented me with a few gifts. I got a new camera, something I've wanted for so long. All of these pictures are the first ever to be taken with my new camera on my blog. It took awhile to get used to actually having a half-decent camera, but there's a definite improvement! This is the model, I'm so bad at technical stuff!

My mom bought me some jewellery too (I don't know but I'm guessing this was from ASOS, it's my favourite online store to buy jewellery, so she may have purchased from there)

Above is a teal fabric wrap bracelet, it's so pretty and it's so comfortable and easy to wear.

I think this style is called a 'floating' necklace (blame Forever 21 if not!), it's a gorgeous gold cluster necklace. I love it, it looks expensive and still understated.

Finally, my mom recently visited a little fishing harbour and she brought me back an amazing gift. It was basically a clam with a freshwater, real pearl inside and a necklace to display it. I opened the clam, retrieved the pearl (from mushy surroundings - say no more!) and enclosed it in the necklace. My pearl has peachy hues to it, which is said to represent love.

I had a really great holiday and birthday, generally a fantastic summer. I received some money from relatives and although I plan to spend the remainder on my AW11 wardrobe (particularly these boots), I've already spent most of it on various goodies that I'll show you in the near future.

Apologies for a text-heavy and link-abundant post, I've aired lots of things that had been building up though now, so I can really get into 'normal' blogging! Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!

autumn wishes: ellie's edit

2011-08-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

As we're halfway through August now and our 'summer' has well and truly fizzled out, I've been soaking up the latest AW11 fashion nuggets.

I've decided to launch a new blog series *yippee*, 'Ellie's Edit'.

I love winter particularly for everything, especially fashion. These are my favourite high-street picks.

Top to bottom, left to right:

River Island £45, £35, £18, Topshop £46, River Island £55, £25, Topshop £50, Topshop £4, River Island £28, H&M £19.99, H&M £24.99

I love love love it all, especially the wedge-boots. It's always tricky sorting out suitable, comfortable and stylish footwear for AW, but these are perfect! I love River Island's current coat selection too. H&M have a staple AW collection, too. I'm hoping to invest in a few key pieces for AW and enjoy the season and the style. I'm sure there will be loads more to come on AW11!

What are you guys thinking of new season style?

joyeux anniversaire

2011-08-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Coffee & Roses!!!

I couldn't resist!

It's so strange to think a whole year has passed, but to me personally my blog always represents sunshine and happiness, probably because it was started this same happy period last year, the sunshine, my birthday, a whole summer ahead...

It's been so much fun for a first year, I'm really proud of this blog and everything surrounding it.

Most of all, I have to profusely thank every single person who reads, follows and supports me and my blog!

PARTAAY

(JK!)

3/8/2010-2011

Here's to another fabulous year!

with love,

2011-07-29T04:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been around a lot lately, I now have a bit of summertime to myself and tomorrow I'm jetting off to Rhodes, Greece.

It's a family wedding and I'll only be there for a week, but I'm so excited to feel the warmth! British sunshine is lagging a lot right now!

I haven't been to Rhodes for about ten years, so I'm super-excited, although considering I haven't ventured outside of the Spanish region for ages I'm a bit nervous too, hehe.

On Wednesday it's actually my blog's first birthday, so hopefully I'll be able to put together a little scheduled celebration!

It's birthdays all round because when I get back, it's my own birthday on Sunday (summer babies rejoice!).

I'm hoping to bring back some little treasures, lots of wonderful tales to tell and of course, a pretty tan.

What are you girlies up to this summer?

rainy haze haul #18

2011-06-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

The weather in the Midlands has been awful this week! I thought I'd better fit in some 'blame-the-rain' shopping, naturally.

I'm still on a bit of a magazine-freebies kick, I bought InStyle again this month, not only is July's issue a cheaper £2, but it comes with a Body Shop £5 gift card. I've discovered the InStyle website is really good, and next month the freebies flow on with a free Body Shop mascara or two Body Shop eyeliners.

I'd briefly heard about the Glamour/Benefit freebie collab this month, but because I was quite late to hear about it, I completely forgot and I was sure they'd all have totally disappeared by now anyway. But yesterday, I was in trusty WHSmith and completely out of the blue, I spotted the last two Glamour magazines. I'd actually forgotten about the freebies and was only really looking because of Adele hehe. I snapped up Posietint and Benetint, luckily the two I wanted most, and they really are tiny. I wasn't even sure they were worth the £2 for 4ml, but it's only a magazine freebie after all.

I also picked up an old best friend (or at least a variation of an old BFF!), Diva Batiste. Is it me or are all of the Batiste's starting to smell the same now!?

I ordered some Gucci perfume samples in January and it was a completely forgotten treat when two black shiny envelopes landed on my doormat! Guilty is divine, and I think I love the men's version just as much!

That's about it shopping-wise, I'm having a bit of a dilemma right now though; I've been planning to go and see one of my favourite singers live. I don't know who to go to though: my original choice Katy Perry or amazing rappers; Example or Tinie Tempah!?

I'm looking forward to it, I've got a tough week of exams now, then I'm treating myself with a trip to Thorpe Park on the following Tuesday (adrenaline junkie in the house!).

Lots of love

sunshine beeline haul #17

2011-06-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Witson Week has been a really fun week for me this year, although I didn't go on holiday or anything, I have had a really satisfying week and I've managed to get done a lot of things that had gradually built up over Spring. This weekend has been hot hot hot here in the UK, last night was the first night this year I've slept on top of my duvet with just a blanket again. I really would love to live in a country where the climate is forever warm, because it's so good in every aspect.

I have also treated myself this week, and been shopping quite a bit. I've been into Birmingham City Centre a couple of times which is a rare treat even though it's only about twenty five minutes away in the car, it's quite an effort getting there.

Whenever I go to the Bullring, I always have to venture into the whole new world of Primark, as it's my nearest one and I must be one of the few people on the Blogosphere who only makes seasonal trips there. I'll start off with the clothes I've accumulated throughout the week.

Simple black vest top £2.00

Orange is my favourite colour, and I love that this season's colour-blocking has incorporated orange and pink together so much. This top above is a pretty pink jersey and orange satin a-line vest top. It's also available in electric blue and mustard, which was equally pretty. £4.00

I decided I needed a 'summer' coat for the overcast days, and I found this perfect khaki cape coat in the New Look sale at a fantastic £14.00. It's still online and available to buy here. I love the capes trend and this is a fab everyday take. I really like how it's slightly cropped at the front, and the lightweight parka feel.

I also visited Forever 21, the Birmingham store is just extraordinary. The only downside is there's so much in there and the sizes are pretty small. They do have some lovely printed tees and vests, though. I picked up this feminine lavender lace top for 11.50. It's massively versatile and a great addition to my wardrobe.

This is it over the black vest top from Primark, although it can be worn in so many different ways.

Onto accessories, I've been trying to build a perfect jewellery collection after a ruthless clearout that left me with only about fourteen jewellery pieces in total. In Debenhams (this isn't normally a place I'd shop for jewellery), I fell in love with a beautiful bracelet/bangle by Buckingham. As my Mum was with me, she decided to treat me to it, which was a lovely surprise.

It was £10.00 (reduced from £25.00), and it's a beautiful black and white striped thin bangle. I don't like calling it a bangle because I'm really not a bangle person, but it's not exactly a bracelet either.

I think it's a really classic piece that is completely 'me' and it's all the more special as a gift from my Mum. I had read an interview with Lisa Eldridge earlier and her top fashion advice was to never not buy something you absolutely love or buy something you don't absolutely love, which is perfect advice and is definitely something I should bear in mind more.

In Primark, I couldn't resist a slightly 'tacky' pearl bracelet with a large red ceramic heart on it. I personally think it looks really girly, a little touch of Vivienne Westwood and a steal at £2.00.

Yesterday I was in Sainsburys when I scooped up a few magazines with fab freebies (I'm a bit in love with magazine freebies!).

I bought InStyle, which (although it's the June issue) came out about two weeks ago, and lots of people snapped up the three different Nails Inc polishes. I wanted the beige one because in pictures it looked a lot more nude than mushroom.

The name is 'Fashion Fawn' and in reality it's a greige. I'm a bit disappointed because I've been looking for the perfect nude for a long time, and if I'd have seen this would be a mushroom on the nails (I already have a couple of greige's) I'd have went for the candy orange - I really like that one. I didn't fancy the blue one because I have No7 Totally Teal (I do love it) and they look very similar.

I also picked up Elle magazine, which came with a free Reiss vest.

It's an off-white cool grey with a fashion print on it. Like most magazine clothing, it's very, very sheer and there's not much material to it.

It's a racerback, and I think for summer days when all I'm doing is tidying and not leaving the house, it'd be perfect (although a bandeau bra is still a must!). This was also available in white and blue, but those two had much smaller prints in the corner instead. The blue one was very nice.

Lastly, I bought Red magazine which came with a free Jemma Kidd lipgloss. The three shades were deep red, coral red and baby peach.

When I saw this I instantly thought 'Revlon Peach Petal'. Funnily enough, it's called 'Petal'.

I didn't know what to expect as I've never tried any Jemma Kidd products before. However, I was really surprised. The packaging is nice, the lipgloss is a perfect opaque peach. It doesn't go on chalkily like a lot of opaque glosses, it looks good on the lips and although there is a slight shimmer (I think that's just to catch the light) it's relatively matt.

Today my mum came back from Stratford-upon-Avon (luckily we only live about half an hour away from this beautiful little village) and she'd bought me this sweet New York notebook.

That's most of what I've purchased this week, I hope you all had a great week or the Bank Holiday if you were in work. Lots of love,

dandelions and raindrops haul #16

2011-05-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

Today I have a mini-haul, I bought these goodies about three weeks ago now! Better late than never hehe...

Firstly I have some bits from a small UK shop Ethel Austin. I used to go in there more often last year when they sold little bits and bobs, primarily this wonderful bath and body range. However, they have stopped stocking it and many of the EA branches have closed down anyway.

I have heard that some I Love... products are sold in Superdrug, I personally have never spotted any (to be fair I hardly ever go into Superdrug).

I picked up the Vanilla and Ice Cream candle.

The candles are only £3.00 - I think the candles are the most expensive product in the range (excluding gift-sets) so that makes them pretty affordable and amazing value for money!

The packaging is all so adorable - the brand is very similar to Philosophy which is goooorgeous, but I Love... is much cheaper.

I'm a vanilla-zealot, vanilla is my favourite scent so this candle seemed essential for me! It's a pleasant creamy vanilla scent, quite strong but nothing headache-inducing like the Yankees French Vanilla candle (never sniff that, ever!). I used this during my bath last night - it fills the room with a subtle, sweeeeet vanilla scent and it's GORGEOUS. It also comes in a large glass jar, such brilliant value.

My other purchase was a Chocolate and Oranges Bubble Bath and Shower Creme. This smells amazing - just like Terry's Chocolate Orange! For a tiny £2.00 for the 500g bottle it's impossible to say no! I teamed this with Ma Bar last night, and when I got out of my bath I moisturized with Palmers Cocoa Butter (a very edible-scented concoction!).

I must say it will take a lot to drag me away from my oh so beloved Radox Shower Smoothies...they are just amazing. AMAZING, I repeat.

And then last weekend I picked up a No7 Natural Blush in 'Honey'. It's the perfect contour for my unorthodox skin tone, it really warms up my cheekbones!

I've bought quite a few beauty bits recently, they'll no doubt crop up in future posts but for now I wanted to get those oldies out of the way :)

That's all for now, have a great week!

homecoming!

2011-04-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm back girlies! I've spent this deliciously long weekend transforming my blog beyond recognition. I've been a really awful blogger since the start of the year, so I've taken a complete U-turn and spent copious hours perfecting every last detail of my new blog, image and philosophy (let's get deep and meaningful, hehe). May is a new start.

I really want to know what you all think! (Pop any thoughts, questions and opinions below)

I'd also like to know what you would like me to do in future, any ideas you have would be warmly received! The posts I currently have planned are:

FAQs
My Skincare Story
Haircare Project
Several Various Makeup Reviews

Thank you girlies, have a fabulous weekend!

that royal wedding.

2011-04-29T05:17:00.000-07:00

I don't feel this day can be amassed with many words, apart from perfection.

Celebration

Love

Beauty

History

Pride

Harry.

The perfect fairytale.

and the winner is...

2011-03-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

Hello girlies!
It only seems like last week I popped out my LUSH Hello Gorgeous giftbox giveaway - but the time has come for to announce the winner!

*drumroll*

Source

The winner is...

Lauren!!

Well done! I have contacted you with more detail.

Thank you to everyone who entered, I don't doubt there will be plenty more giveaways in future!

Much love

Ellie

changes ahead

2011-03-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

Just a quick hello to explain why some different feautures may crop up on my blog soon.

This is the final post with my blog looking as it currently does.

Just a note, but I hope you guys like the new feel!

Much love!

Ellie

CLOSED. GIVEAWAY: LUSH "Hello Gorgeous" Gift Box!

2011-02-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

Like my new introduction guys (it's a bit of a pun to this post)!? I've also changed the font, again, because I really like this font as it's so similar to my actual handwriting! I feel like I'm reading my handwritten thoughts!

I planned to do a giveaway at 350 followers, but what's the harm in a spontaneous treat for my followers? To make it fitting, I'm giving away a Hello Gorgeous gift box from LUSH (see what I did there..ha).

Yay for giveaways!

The Rules

You must be a public follower of my blog. You don't have to be a blogger yourself but you do have to be an official follower

If you are under 16 you need parental permission

Only one entry per person

Open internationally

For ONE EXTRA ENTRY you can post a picture and a link in your blog sidebar

How to enter

Comment below and tell me your favourite LUSH product! If you have never used LUSH products (naughty you) tell me your favourite alternative-to-LUSH product! This will automatically enter you, so do not just type "enter me"! Also add your email adress so I can contact you if you win.

The Process

The giveaway will end on 25th March 2011 at midnight GMT. I will filter the comments and use random.org to generate a winner. I will contact the winner firstly and then publish the results on my blog.

The Prize

LUSH "Hello Gorgeous" Gift Box

RRP £17.90

This beautiful blossoming box contains:

Gorgeous Moisturiser

Sakura Ballistic

Helping Hands Hand Cream

MMM Bath Melt

Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub

I'll probably use Giveaway Scout again too :)

I should also mention this giveaway is somewhat of a "bookmark" on my blog, as a page really has been turned. If you've read my last post I'm sure you'll understand :)

Good luck girlies!

xoxo

inspiration

2011-02-24T11:09:00.000-08:00

Hi girls,

Just a quick post today. I feel a more sentimental article from me has been due a while. These past few weeks I've been feeling really disheartened and uninterested in blogging. I've been upset due to a lack of correspondence with my followers, zero inspiration and I've felt my blog distinction has disappeared a little. It's been nagging at me, but who wants to admit something that once made you really happy and gave such enjoyment just doesn't anymore?

However, fear not - this post isn't going down the "Goodbye for ever" road! But, up until today I was going to have an indefinite break from blogging.

I started this blog in Summer 2010, just before my August birthday and summer holidays. Today I was reading back on those early posts. I had never re-read them before, I figured they must have been a little embarrassing as I was such a naive newbie. However, today I read them back and it really assured and influenced me. Not only did they bring back brilliant memories for me personally, but I love how carefree, relaxed and humorous my posts were. They were totally "me", I didn't care about professionalism or image, it was just me and my thoughts really.

I've concluded I want to revert to that enchanting equilibrium. I don't want to worry about boring practicalities and technical things too much, because I had so much fun when I started blogging and that is what blogging is all about.

In some crazy way I want to erase some of the knowledge I've found as a blogger, the harsh sides to blogging and the unjust issues. Nevertheless, I will be continuing blogging, but not in the "soldiering on" sense. I'm going to relish blogging and I suppose it's a discovery from here on in.

Thank you followers, not only for following, supporting and helping my blog but nurturing in more ways than you could imagine. I've got a thank-you giveaway for you all tomorrow, also as a private celebration for my change in my blogging outlook - hehe.

xoxo

space girl

2011-02-24T08:14:00.000-08:00

Hi girlies,

Firstly, keep your eyes peeled, my next post will be VERY EXCITING!

Anyway, another LUSH review!!! My blog is now referred to as "bath and beauty" ha! BTW, the LUSH website is back up, wahooo! The Mothers Day products are out too, let's just say my mum knows what she'll be receiving this March. (It's my Mum's birthday tommorow, needless to say her birthday present is a mangle of little yellow paper bags..)

Review Category:

Bath & Body

Product:

LUSH Bath Ballistic "Space Girl"

Get this, at the moment for Mothers Day at LUSH you can also get one of the Mothers Day flowers in Space Girl...see here.

Price:

£1.90

Stockist:

LUSH stores and LUSH online (international)

Description:

"Here comes a ballistic of astronomical proportions. We were inspired by The Imagined Village's intriguing interpretation of Space Girl from their second album, Empire & Love. It's shaped like Saturn with added space dust for our alien friends, and the refreshing scent of blackcurrant sweeties will make you hungry for your own space adventures. Space Girl is stellar, just remember your blaster and your freezer gun."

Opinion:

I like this little bath ballistic, particularly for it's delectable scent. It smells like Parma Violets - the little lilac planet doused in red glitter is a refreshing and uplifiting treat.

This is one of my "morning bath" products, it's zingy, lightweight and fresh - perfect for a March morning. When popped into the bath, it turns the water a pale lilac colour, and the aroma changes to a more tropical and fruity scent.

It's not a product I'd rush to repurchase, but maybe in summertime when I'm relaxing in a cool daytime bath this is the kind of product I'd crave.

Reccomend?

Yes

Repurhcase?

Maybe

Rating?
6 and a half/10

Mid-fizz

The final result.

What do you think?

xoxo

pink friday

2011-02-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

Hi girls

Let's pay a little homage to Ms Minaj, hey?

How have you all been? It's been pretty mad lately, but now it's mid-term I'm looking forward to a week of sleeping, listening to music and tidying up (it always sounds mad, but I LOVE cleaning and tidying! I think it's something to do with my OCD).

Today I bring a NOTD, I haven't done one of these in a while but I fancied painting my nails pink last week. I used (what else) Barry M "Bright Pink" nail paint. I love this one, it's such an essential and classic colour and yet amongst my sea of pink nail polishes (28 to date - oops), it holds it's own.

It's almost got a "pale fuschia" thing going on, this may be due to blue undertones. I only applied two coats and it applied perfectly, as always.

Have a great weekend chicks!

xoxo

weekend whimsy #4

2011-02-13T03:28:00.000-08:00

Hi girlies, phew; time really is whizzing past without a care in the world! I can't believe it's the weekend again...my life seems a bit "groundhog day" at the moment haha. I love these natural, unconventional and unnecessary weekend whimsies.

♥ Yesterday morning I was enjoying more family time whilst scrap booking, flicking through photo albums and catching up with my diary. I sometimes panic I don't record my life through pictures and writing etc, however luckily I find scrapbooking to be a lot of fun - and it's a great way to display your life stories.

♥ I'm still going through my OCD stage of cleaning, re-organizing and sorting my whole bedroom out constantly. I think I may just be there now, after years of deliberating over decors, designs, storage and all that jazz - yes, the perfect bedroom, eek. After re-organizing the bottom of my wardrobe (also known as the place the mess lives), my shoe-buying habit has struck up again.

♥ It's my Dad's birthday tommorow/VD, (it's a lovely day for him to have his birthday on but a nightmare to buy him presents that are non-lover-related) and my sister and I went shopping yesterday to buy his presents. I settled on a manly-looking Snuggie and a Nivea for Men skincare set. Albeit a bit girly but I'm sure in secret he'll love them!

♥ Although I've always been pretty pale and it's never bothered me, I've decided this Spring is the time to delve into the world of fake-tanning. I'm dubious as a newbie, but I think for starters I'll try the affordable and highly-rated St Moriz mousse - although I really like the look of LUSH Charlotte Island.

♥ Talking of lights...

♥ I've started going off the traditional-blog sidelines, i.e. using quotes as titles for posts. A few other bloggers do this, and because I'm such a fan of inspiring and girly quotes, I decided instead of a boring "Barry M Bright Pink NOTD" it'd be more of a " *insert quote here* NOTD". I'll still state the post content but in a bit more a fun and off-the-wall way.

♥ I've changed my blog font to something a lot more "me". I wanted to do it for a while but I didn't want it to irritate anyone; but so far it seems fine.

I've got another haul coming up, I picked up a few cute goodies (and some NON-LUSH bath products - OMG) and I'll show them off throughout the week (I'm making up for the lack of hauling recently, aren't I!)Have you all had a fabulous weekend?

xoxo

summer time kinda gal haul #16

2011-02-11T04:51:00.000-08:00

Hi girlies!

It's haul time! I've been promising a bit of a collective haul for a while now, half of these were purchased on Saturday, and the other half the Saturday before.

This weekend I went into WHSmith intent on finally buying a Blossom storage unit. It turns out my WHSmith were having a stock sale on most stationary, and I picked one up for a bargainous £5! I was thrilled with this nifty deal as you can imagine.

The box is actually a brighter turquoise colour, a more Tiffany-blue. It fits in perfectly with my decor and it fits all of my makeup in perfectly. I'm being careful with it though as it's only made from study card, so I wouldn't store too much in it at once.

Here's an example of what one of the top small drawers can hold.

I've used this to store my eyeliners, cream eyeshadows and anything other than mascara in tube-form.

Because I'd snagged the box for a fiver, I decided to purchase this little letter holder of the same print (matchy matchy!).

This wasn't reduced, but it was only £5 and I thought I could store some of my smaller palettes in it.

Next up I popped into LUSH, my LUSH had been under reconstruction for a couple of weeks, it had only reopened that day and it was looking gorgeous. I bought something I've been meaning to get for a while - one of their canvas shoppers.

It's huge! This was £7.50 (anyone else think this is majorly overpriced when essentially it's just a bag-for-life type thing?)

Of course LUSH had their Valentines Day products in, I only picked up two things though. I bought the Frog Prince for my mum (hence no picture).

The Ex Factor is a ballistic that was out last year but I didn't get a chance to try. I picked it up in store because it looked so cute - I AM IN LOVE.

It's bright blue with a little pink heart, it's massive for a mere £1.99, and it smells amazing. I'd definitely say it's my favourite bath ballistic so far. A bit extreme perhaps (especially considering I haven't even used it yet!), but I cannot explain how gorgeous it smells! It even matches my decor, so it's been proudly displayed on my dresser.

I'm going to LUSH this weekend to restock, I'm gutted it's LE *sob*.

In HMV I picked up the second series box set of Gossip Girl. I don't know if I've *ahem* mentioned, but GG is my favourite TV show. Period.

In Boots I bought the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Lip Balm; I love love love the Palmer's Cocoa Butter range, so I was keen on buying the lip balm. At first I was very disappointed because it didn't smell of anything at all, but I persevered and after applying it a few times it soon had that infamous whiff about it! I really recommend it because it's a thick formula but it glides on a leaves a film on your lips - all of this in a good way, of course.

Last Saturday I needed some formal shoes for a college tutor meeting, and I popped into my local independent shoe store not really expecting to see anything. However, I picked up these beauties for £14.

I love the Chanel-feel about them, they look so pretty on and can be dressed down or up.

That's my hauling done for now, any questions pop below. I'm looking forward to an evening of The Hills and pot-noodles (with the added caution of Tiki Boo clambering all over me..)

Hehe - not looking his best!

xoxo

ma bar

2011-02-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hi petals!

I've been feeling all summery lately, I think the spots of Spring sun have done something to me! More LUSH again, I've been meaning to review Ma Bar for a while, I've had a couple of Ma Bar baths over the past few weeks, I'm panicking because as the weather gradually (very gradually) gets warmer, I have less baths (baths are so OUT in summer). Maybe expect a load of LUSH shower gel reviews in summer haha.

Review Category:

Bath and Body

Product:

LUSH Ma Bar Bubble Bar

(Permanent Line)

Price:

£2.50

Stockist(s):

LUSH website or LUSH stores (international).

Description:
"Spoil yourself with a chocolate-toffee bar. The LUSH Ma Bar is a Bubble Bar of two halves: cocoa and honey toffee. In the centre, there's a lump of brown sugar, which melts in the bath water. It was created for Mother's Day and became so popular that we couldn't retire it."

Opinion:
Yum - Ma Bar. You only need to say the word (or two) and that amazing chocolate/vanilla scent comes to mind. My sister is insistant Ma Bar couldn't possibly be loved for it's appearance (to quote: "It's brown!") but something about the chunky little bar makes me smile. Ma Bar is an old favourite at LUSH, originally produced for Mothers Day a few years ago, it has obviously become a classic LUSH product and I hope LUSH never dare to discontinue it.

The scent is probably the most prominent feature. One half of this bar is chocolate scented (and coloured) and the other is honey and vanilla. The smell is good enough to eat, and it provides an enjoyable bath. There isn't loads of bubbles, but the water is silky and the bubbles are soft enough to carry a subtle chocolate scent. I enjoyed this bath, my water was hardly brown-tinted, some reviews make out the water turned into a sewer (pleasent image there for you!).

For this use I broke my Ma Bar in half

There were still a few little brown bits floating around so I had to squish these up before I got in (I'm not really selling this to you, am I?!)

Reccomend?

Yes, this bubble bar is perfect for every chocaholic!

Repurchase?

Definitely, it's a comforting old fave.

Rating?

9/10

Anyone else fancy some chocolate now?!

xoxo

weekend whimsy #3

2011-02-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hi girls!

I thought a quick summary of the past fortnight or so was overdue for my blog; I sometimes worry my personal stamp on my blog is disappearing? I think a happy-carefree ramble about my daily goings-on adorned with pretty pictures is in order.

♥ This morning whilst shopping (and lovingly gazing at Space NK) I went into WHSmith and jumped on the much-loved bandwagon in buying a Blossom storage unit (much love to Vivianna inspiration-wise!). The AMAZING thing is - I got mine for £5.00! My WHSmith were having a clearance sale on a decent amount of things, mainly storage boxes etc. I couldn't believe I snagged one of these for £5! It'll be featured in an upcoming HUGE collective haul. I also bought the matching letter-holder (these weren't reduced - only the storage unit from the Blossom line was reduced) to store some of my smaller palettes in. I'll include plenty of pictures when I've reorganized my dresser area (all of which I plan to do this weekend), but for now...

♥ At the moment I'm reading Lord Sugar's autobiography, What You See Is What You Get. I normally shy away from reading celebrity autobiographies, I've never been into that kind of thing. However, Lord Sugar has lead an extraordinary life and I was quite interested in his autobiography (for my European followers, Lord Alan Sugar is a British high-profile entrepreneur and media personality. He came from humble East End London beginnings and is now a millionaire) and I'm so glad I purchased it! I'm hardly an aspiring businesswoman, but it's a riveting read and I'd recommend it to anyone.

♥ Ever since watching Black Swan, I've been a little bit in love with anything ballerina-related. I desperately want a gorgeous vintage jewellery box with a ballerina and a lullaby inside. I want my whole dresser to be vintage, girly and romantic i.e. old-fashioned embelished hairbrush, jewellery box, perfume tray etc. One can dream!

♥ Listening to Ellie Goulding and Tinie Tempah. Still.

A few songs I've hearted today - 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

♥ Am actually considering a career in fashion now. My dream jobs are all fashion-based, but now I've decided to take a Textiles course next year, could it be I actually do take the plunge!??

♥ I was browsing the Debenhams website earlier and was thrilled to see they now sell MAC online! MAC used to be totally independant online, but recently Selfridges started selling MAC online and now Debenhams are too. I personally am really pleased because there are literally NO MAC counters anywhere near where I live (MAC stores are out of the question!), all of my local Debenhams' do not have MAC counters, (only Benefit and Clinique), the nearest MAC counter is in Selfridges at the Birmingham Bullring. I would never order online from MAC either, mainly because the postage is pricey, the website is finnicky and I don't want to single out MAC and specifically make a MAC order, if that makes sense? With Debenhams I can incorporate buying a few MAC bits with other shopping.

♥ You may have noticed via my sidebar, I am holding another giveaway when I reach 350 followers. I had such fun doing my first giveaway for 50 followers, and I did say I plan to do a giveaway each year. Hopefully 2011 will see two giveaways on my blog, as my blog's first birthday is in August, and I definitely want to mark and celebrate that! Yay for giveaways!

How has your week been? Luckily I've got most of Monday off (yippeee - watching TV and blogging for the majority of the day? Yes please.) Drop me a comment chicks :)

TTFN

xoxo

january ins and outs

2011-01-30T04:25:00.000-08:00

Hi girlies!

Can you believe we're at the end of January already? I'm glad we're comfortably into 2011 now - not long until Easter holidays :)

Black Swan

The girls and I went to see this last night, and all I can describe it as is breathtaking. I'm quite a fan of bizarre but beautiful films (a la The Lovely Bones), and this film documents a troubled ballerina's dark descent into a phsycotic and scarily perfect life that mirrors her role. An absolute must-see!

Spring

We're not quite there yet but the tantalising flickers of sunshine we're having are lovely and long overdue. I adore spring - watching flowers bloom, nesting, making paper-mache bonnets, indulging my hobby for spring-cleaning; and this year there's even a Royal wedding thrown into the mix. Spring is quite a whimsical season.

Tinie Tempah

Disc-overy hasn't had a minute's break since I bought it. I adore Tinie Tempah, his music is brilliant and compared to a lot of rubbish right now, his rapping instantly stands out. I'm thrilled he's leading the way with Brits nominations, he deserves mass recognition! I particularly love Wonderman (yes because he duets with my favourite singer Ellie); I watched T4 Backstage for the Wonderman video yesterday *slight obsession OD*

Fringe-age

Earlier today, whilst at the hairdressers, I took the plunge and got a full fringe (I will post a picture very soon, but I haven't had the chance yet). I've been wanting one for an age, Daisy Lowe is my biggest style icon, and I told my hairdresser to make my fringe like Daisy's (pictured above). I was horrified at first, mainly because I looked so different, and because she was blowdrying it to be thick and round (really..). But she corrected it and in future I'll be straightening it flat, and I'll make sure it blends in and there's not gap between my fringe and my normal hair (I hate that for some reason). I quite like it now, it's hard getting used to having hair on my face (it's eyelash-skimming - I couldn't bear it to be short) as I've never in my life had a full fringe. It also makes me look quite a bit older, which for me in my mid teenage years is a good thing :)
My next hair venture has to be to dye it darker - black hair is my dream!

THE dress

My mum's getting married in August this year - we're going to Lindos for a week and a small wedding ceremony (Mamma Mia much!?). We're not yet sure how many family members are coming as well as the immediate family, but I've been pondering over my bridesmaid dress for a few weeks now. Mum's told us we can have different dresses (thank God), but they have to be reasonably similar - soft colouring, simple and summery. I spotted this dress in the Very catalogue last week and absolutely fell in love. It's a bit casual for a bridesmaid dress, but it seems quite fitting for a small beach celebration. I am in love - even if I don't wear it for the wedding I must own it :)

OUT

Weight gain

Only this week did I notice the full effect of Christmas celebrations on my body - time for a diet - which I officially suck at. Ho-hum!

Blogging Fails

I feel really dissapointed in my self that these past few weeks I've not been a good blogger at all. It's been extremely awkward since my laptop died, and in the posts I have been able to do they haven't been my usual standard at all. I fully apologise and thank you all for staying with me. However, the good news is I am totally back into blogging now and as of this weekend, things have changed and my blog is NORMAL again :)

That's all for today girls, expect plenty more from me now! (Haulage coming up!) Love love loves

Ellie

xoxo

shameless girl

2011-01-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

Hello girlies!

I've got a NOTD to show you today, I haven't done one in ages! These pictures are over a fortnight old now, and my nails are perfect in them, right now my nails are DIABOLICAL *vair sad face*.

I adore "Mod About You", but unless you have perfect, even and flawless hands, it can make your skin look hideously discoloured and odd - which is why I wear this shade with caution. It's a lovely creamy cross between bright light lilac and pink, and it certainly illuminates your hands!

Sadly this does chip pretty quickly, but as I bought this online for around the £4.30 mark, I'm not massively upset.

TTFN

xoxo

stylish blogger and december ins and outs

2011-01-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Hi roses!

Sorry for the mini-break, I've received some really big news this last week that's excited/scared/confused me. It's nothing bad and it doesn't involve my work as a blogger or anything, but it's definitely tipped my life upside down a bit! When I've made a decision I'll let you know what's going on, it's hard for me to get my head around right now!

Anyway, sweet Laura awarded me the..

I'm thrilled with this award as to be dubbed a "stylish blogger" is wonderful. I've displayed this one in the footer of my blog along with my other awards, as seen below.

BTW does anyone know how to remove the dark shadow at the footer of my blog? I don't want it there and I've tried to get rid of it but can't :(

Time for a quick Ins and Outs!

INS

Ellie Goulding

Am obsessed. Nuff said.

Radio 1 Live Lounge Volume 5

Great artists + live music + covers = AMAZING STUFF.

Big decisions

Sometimes you can't be afraid of change - instead I'm embracing it.

Creativity Flow

I'm busy scrapbooking and getting creative lately - I enjoy the positive release!

Shopping

Yes, I know - what girl doesn't love shopping? I have been shopping-starved for a while due to Christmas savings and now we're well into January I'm happily slipping back into my weekly shopping routines!

OUT

Shameless

The highly anticipated return has been a bit of a disappointment for me personally - so far :(

Wooo - only one OUT!

Speak to you soon girls

xoxo

think pink

2011-01-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

Hi girlies!

This is a special post (well, it is to a sap like moi!) as it's my 60th post!

Here's a LUSH review to brighten up your Thursday evening :)

Review category:
Bath & Body

Product:

LUSH "Think Pink" Bath Ballistic
(Permanent line)

Price:

£2.45 for 90g

Stockist(s):
LUSH website or LUSH stores (international).

Description:

"This hot pink bomb is still fragranced with tonka bean's edgy aroma and the sweetness of vanilla absolute."

Opinion:
Admittedly, I hold a torch for this ballistic, as it was one of the bombs I bought when I was still a LUSH newbie, wistfully discovering the wonders the little oddball shop had to offer! "Think Pink" used to be quite a cult LUSH product, but in this past year it's popularity seems to have shrunk (whether this is because not long back LUSH made this ballistic considerably smaller, I don't know) - however it's still included in lots of LUSH gift-boxes.

Amongst the big pastel bombs, this little magenta ballistic (adorned with decorative flowers) boasts a girly, feisty aura. The smell is just as LUSH describe it, a spicy but sweet tonka scent with undertones of French vanilla to add a softer aroma. It's quite a "typical LUSH" scent, and because it's pink it sometimes is mistakenly viewed as part of LUSH's "candy" range, i.e. Rock Star soap and Creamy Candy bubble bar, however it has a totally different scent to these, luckily!

The little coloured flowers dissolve in the water, and when you drop this bomb into the bath it fizzes and literally dyes the water the exact same colour as the ballistic. Little paper pink hearts are released too, they're such a sweet touch and although I don't like things floating around in the water with me, these were tiny and they dissapeared quickly. The water is an opaque hot pink, and if you touch the bomb as it's still fizzing it'll temporarily stain your hand pink. This said, although the colour doesn't fade at all during the bathtime, it didn't stain my bath at all and when I drained the water the colour simply drained too. I was surprised the scent lingered after the bomb had fizzed, as with most LUSH ballistics the smell fades as soon as the bomb has been in the water for a few seconds, but with this one the smell stayed strong long after the bomb had dissolved.

Overall, I was pleased with this bathbomb, it looks gorgeous, it delivers a sweet and delightful bath and it's affordable. I've repurchased this bomb already, once for my little sister who adored the pink water and I've got another Think Pink in my LUSH basket waiting to be used.

You can see the colour pumping out!

This is an uber-cool underwater shot above. (Don't ask how I did it - LONG story!)

Probably not wise to hold the bomb when it's still fizzing = much stainage.

The final result!

Recommend?

Yes, but try and smell it in store first because the tonka can be overpowering to some.

Repurchase?

Already have, would again.

Rating?
8/10

xoxo

bourjois skincare preview

2011-01-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

Hi girlies!

Whilst having a browse on the Boots website this morning, I noticed Bourjois seem to be releasing a few skincare products.

Bourjois is a French makeup brand, available in most UK drugstores; I'm a big fan of their products and often find them to be overlooked in the beauty community. I often pop a few of their products on my frequent ASOS orders, as ASOS often have quite a few exclusive Bourjois products. I would definitely go as far as to say Bourjois is in my top three favourite drugstore brands, alongside Barry M and Revlon.

Anyway, Bourjois are seemingly expanding their horizons with a skincare range, and all of the products retail at around the £5 mark, so very affordable.

They're selling a basic range of skincare; a cleanser, a toner and a few variations of make-up cleansers.

Sorry for the awful image from Google(!)

Have you tried Bourjois skincare?

Are you interested?

xoxo

january jazz

2011-01-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

As our NY blossoms, are you listing your resolutions or throwing caution to the wind?

I, for one, am doing the latter :)

Happy 2011 everyone, much love to my glam followers and here's to a happy, healthy and wonder-fuelled year.

xoxo

the interview

2010-12-26T07:25:00.000-08:00

Hey girlies!

I hope you all had a gorgeous Christmas and had a fab day. Normally I'm beyond depression on Boxing Day, but I'm actually rather basking in a post-Christmas bubble.

I've just got back from a weekend in Belgium on the 21st, and I'm currently relaxing listening to Ellie Goulding and cosying up in my little grotto-nest (also known as a home).

The other day I presented my Versatile Blogger award, and I was awarded it by another lovely girly Laura (much love!). When I was originally awarded it I was also tagged to do "The Interview"..

1.Why did you create this blog?

In a nutshell? I love writing and I'm a shamelessly girly girl. I've been following the cyber beauty community since it started three years ago, and I wanted a creative outlet for my beauty-journalist aspirations as well as a fun new project to become a part of.

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?

I follow girly blogs usually based on fashion and beauty.

3. What is your favourite makeup brand?
When push comes to shove, my favourite makeup brand is probably Barry M (closely followed by Bourjois, Urban Decay and Benefit).

4. Favorite clothing brands?

River Island, Miss Selfridge and Topshop.

5. Your indispensable makeup product?

Concealer(!)

6. Your favorite color?

Purple

7. What perfume are you wearing?

Right now I'm initially wearing Burberry The Beat, but I can faintly smell Marc Jacobs Lola and Daisy, SJP NYC, Naughty Alice by Vivienne Westwood and Chanel Allure. Mostly because I had so much fun at Duty Free whilst on the ferry to Brugge.

8. Your favorite film?

Hairspray.

9. What country would you like to visit and why?

NYC because I can NEVER get enough of New York!

10. Write the last question and answer it yourself.

What is your favourite proverb?

All that glitters is not gold.

I tag all of my followers as usual, I hope you're all well!

I may do a "What I got for Christmas" post - I got some lovely gifts and I love seeing what other people bought.

Loves,

Ellie

xoxo

wintry whimsy #2

2010-12-18T08:48:00.000-08:00

Ciao Bella!

As a decidedly frozen blogger, I again apologise! In the New Year I'll be back to normal postage :)

As you all know (I was so tempted to type "y'all" then!), my giveaway ended recently, and the lovely girl who won did a bit of a write-up; but because she's not a blogger she asked me to post it here.

*EXTRACT FROM LEXI WHO WON MY GIVEAWAY RECENTLY*

Hey there!
First things first, I have to apologise and explain; I have quit blogging, for no particular reason though - I just don't find it such fun anymore. I do still read blogs now and then, and I'll leave my blog for a bit, so people can still access any valuable information I may have provided (ha!). At some point in the future I may return to blogging, but for now I'm a free-flying fairy!

So the gorgeous Ellie from Coffee and Roses held an amazing giveaway at the end of October. I've followed her gorgeous, glam and girly blog for a good while, and I entered to see if I could win a MAC LIPSTICK OF MY CHOICE and a LUSH 500G BOTTLE OF SNOW FAIRY!
Such a generous giveaway! I mean, would you really want to pop £25+ worth of goodies in the post to someone you've never met? Especially at Christmas?!? I think any blogger willing to do that oozes kindness and good will.
Anyway, Ellie posted the giveaway results on the morning of December 2nd, and I was sooooo shocked to see MY NAME there! She had contacted me, so I replied immediately and on the 5th my gorgeous little package arrived.
The sleek black box she sent me was full of pink tissue paper and glitter! In a little MAC gift box was my lipstick (in Speed Dial). The lipstick is gorgeous! Then in glittery bubble wrap my mahoosive Snow Fairy was packaged. I love everything about Snow Fairy! She also sent me a little cupcake-printed note, and a load of Mini-Bourjois stuff which I DID NOT EXPECT! It was such a lovely surprise, she's always saying how much she loves Bourjois, but I couldn't predict she'd send me a load of mini - Bourjois goodies! When she said in her giveaway post she'd be throwing in some "girly goodies", I thought that was the pink tissue paper and glitter lol! She sent me five mini-Bourjois bits, a nail polish, a lipgloss, a mirror, a blush and a phonecharm.

Sorry I couldn't get any pics up, I don't have a decent camera right now! I don't think Ellie took any pictures before she posted it (that would be kinda weird I guess) but I hope I've given a decent description!
Anyway, thank you so much Ellie! Everyone go follow Ellie's blog, because not only is it amazing(!), she's probably going to do loads more giveaways (hope I haven't landed you in it there chick!).
I wasn't actually going to do a write-up because I'm not a blogger, but I figured I wanted to show my gratitude. I've told Ellie she can post this on her blog if she wants.

***

Awh :)

Anyway, put your hand up if you're SO EXCITED for Christmas!?

*I hope I haven't made you all look mad by raising your hand at your computer and now your family are on the phone to the local loony bin*

I'll do plenty of posts post-Christmas (major wording error), love you all!

xoxo

versatile blogger

2010-12-11T03:57:00.000-08:00

Hola girlies!

Whilst flitting through lovely comments from you lovely chicas this morning, I noticed I have been awarded the Versatile Blogger award by camgaga (thank you sweetie!).

Rules

Share the love with linkage :)

Share seven things about yourself

Pass it along to seven other bloggers

Leave your recipients a note telling them you've awarded them

Seven things about me

I'm a vegetarian

It started off as a New Year's resolution in 2007, but it's just stuck.

I love interior design

I'm too in love with Kirstie and Phil and I've a penchant for all-white wonderlands.

I am obsessed with the Hairspray franchise

The film, the West End show...Hairspray is by far my favourite.

I love to write and read

My perfect life would be to go to NYU and pirouette into a high-flying in-demand journalist for Vogue.

I love Disney Couture jewellery

There's something so tempting about a freshwater-pearl ring or an xoxo necklace.

I want to be a New Yorker

Everyone knows my obsession with the Big Apple, I'd love to sit around eating cinnamon, apple and sugar bagels and drinking Starbucks and shopping in Macy's and writing my journalistic pieces for the New Yorker (or MODE, if Ugly Betty were real!) with a Tiffany diamond-encrusted pen and preparing for Christmas and carrying myself away into a New York fairytale!

My followers like my quirky and off-the-wall posts!

I count this as a rather interesting fact!

Who do I award?

Hmm..here's the bit where I break the rules. I haven't been reading any blogs for the past fortnight (because my laptop is, yes, still dead and it's very hard to do my media work scrounging off of my sister's computer never mind catch up on my girly gossip) so I'm going to come back to this bit maybe tomorrow evening when I'm less disorientated on the blogging front and have fully caught up with a coffee and a "Do Not Disturb" sign on my sister's door....yes I am shameless. I can't think of blogs off of the top of my head, so I'll update this before the weekend is out!

Anyhow, thanks for sticking with my girls, I'm thinking a new laptop for Christmas is in order? Definitely over the holiday period (only a WEEK left), I'll be back fully!

Tres love(!)

xoxo

november ins and outs

2010-12-04T04:40:00.000-08:00

Hi girls!

I know I'm a bit late, ho hum.

I would include a ramble here in the introduction but I figure the whole post will be vair mishape-y! ;)

Chirstmassy Books/TV
I heart reading, and I'm trying to get in as many good Christmas books in before Christmas - and although I'm not a huge soaps-watcher, Corrie in particular looks like Christmas is going to be epic, with Eastenders shocking us through New Year. Keep your eyes peeled - I've heard great things!

I found a random picture of a childrens Christmassy book with a cat on the front - and I was stunned how much he resembles my Tiki!

Separated at birth or what!?

Good music

Rihanna's new album LOUD is out - heart heart heart it. Particularly What's My Name and S&M (I shouldn't like that. But I do.) I'm also loving the Nero remix of The Recluse (Plan B) - it's amazing! Duffy's back on the scene with her new album including Well Well Well - I love it. And I'm very excited about Adele's new album 21 coming out in January!

Solihull Touchwood Shopping Mall

I've spoken about this mall in my last post - I LOVE IT. LUSH, River Island, The White Company, The Body Shop and Starbucks amongst LOADS others? Yesss please.

Giveaway
It finally ended, a bit earlier than planned (damn you "scheduled" posts!), and I'm happy to have my blog back to the norm! :)

OUT

Goodbye snow
Granted, we only had it for a few days, but already the snow has cleared up in the West Midlands - although the chill is still very much present. I hate times like this when it's bitterly cold but very bare. I know probably with most bloggers it'll be "ARGH I'm sick of the snow" or "Isn't it pretty", but I'm a snow-loner!

One can dream!

Sickness
Oh gosh, I have SUCH a low pain threshold. This week I've had bad stomach cramps and I feel very sick persistently - and I do not cope well when I'm sick.
Sob.

Sorry for such a short post, I can't muster up much strength to do a fabby post :/

Big loves

xoxo

and the winner is...

2010-12-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

Hi girls!

Well, it's time for my giveaway to end *half sob half shriek*!

I had such a positive experience with my first ever giveaway, I'd like to thank every single one of you who entered, I never expected to get nearly two hundred entries! I found your comments insightful, I read every single one a jotted down each request. Everyone who entered was lovely, again I thank you profusely.

I had to disqualify one person for entering twice haha!

Something I had forgotten to mention in my giveaway post was that this giveaway was open internationally - and all of my future giveaways will be too. My followers come from all corners of the globe - therefore I wasn't going to let location be a restriction.

Let's cut to the chase...ultimately there can only be one winner. *drumroll*

The winner is....

xxLexiixx

From my understanding, Lexi is no longer an active blogger but she obviously still reads blogs.

Well done to you!

Thanks everyone

xoxo

christmas time shopping haul #15

2010-11-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

Hi girls!

Again, apologies for being an awful blogger, my without-a-laptop situation is a peculiar one! On Sunday morning I yet again retreated to the Solihull Tochwood shopping centre and amongst the smatterings of snow were a few Christmas market stalls - lovely stuff! Needless to say I indulged in roasted chestnuts, hot chocolate and a slice of almond and cherry tart. I had a look in BHS, and I'm so in love with their homeware! I'm actually very, very into interior design - would you guys like to hear me talk about that a bit more? Let me know! Anyway, gorgeous gifts (real, edible gingerbread houses, luxury tree decorations etc) and amazing vintage, shabby-chic homeware including looking glasses, mirrors, glass and mirrored storage and a lot more!

I heart the Superdrug at Touchwood - all the Superdrug's I've been in in the past have been unclean, small, cramped and the staff are never nice. I have to say this Superdrug is lovely - the biggest plus is that it stocks pretty much every single brand! There were even a few brands I've never tried out before, such as Me Me Me, Bloom and Sleek (the Sleek palettes look amazing!).

I was so happy to see the Accessorize make-up range, the whole range looks very much like the kind of makeup I love - I tried all four blushes and ultimately fell in love with the highly coveted number 3 - Pretty Pink.

£5.50

Swatches below!

I also thought the Merged Eyeshadows were gorgeous - I bought this one in 7 - Golden Caramel.
It's a champagne with copper, purple and white veins and I can imagine how perfect this one will be for Christmas/New Year parties!

£4.50

Finally, because Superdrug are currently have a 3 for 2 offer across all cosmetics (so are Boots I think - perfect for getting a selection of make-up gifts for people!) I had to find a decent product under £4.50 (surprisingly hard in a drugstore!). I remember everyone making a fuss over the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection range, but when I tried to hop onto that bandwagon I couldn't find a colour match with the foundation. I picked up the concealer in the shade 1 - Light - it's actually very impressive for a mere £4.15!

A close up of the gorgeous blusher!

Swatch-time - from left to right, the concealer, the blusher and the eyeshadow.

Lovely stuff for £10.00!

And then, of course, I had to hit LUSH. Two products are not mentioned; these are Have A Sweet Christmas and Calavera (Bath Ballistic), I gave these to my sister as a mini-gift.

Firstly I picked up another Think Pink, I adore the tonka and vanilla mix!
£2.30

The lovely assistants popped in two freebies for me, this may have been because I spent £30, but hey ho!
I got a sample of Karma soap, I love the spicy and fragrant scent, and I gave that piece to my sister, because the freebie I really wanted was this - the Satsumo Santa ballistic! I adore this - from the fresh orange blossom and bergamot scent to the sheer size of my little fella (who is sadly a bit disfigured - no doubt that's how he ended up in the freebie bin haha!).

£2.90 (or free, in my case!)

I also bought the Butterball (I ADORE THIS STUFF!), and last night I revelled in it's white-chocolate, cocoa and shea pure wonder. (Hence the minus-the-actual-product picture!)

And then finally, I picked out these two gifts, Sparkle and Chillin' With My Gnomeys. These two in particular are just under a tenner each, and they are perfect for little boys or girls; because they each contain a shower jelly which is bound to be a hit with kids, not to mention how Sparkle includes the Shimmy Shimmy, perfect for little girls who are glitter-fans!

£8.25

£6.50

Oh, and get these cute little Chirstmas cupcakes!

My snazzy Santa ring!

Whew, haulage out of the way, have a great Monday evening (is that possible!?).

xoxo

hey again

2010-11-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

Hi girls!

To start with, a big apology for my recent absense. My dear old laptop has died unexpectedly! It had suddenly started going super slow over the past week, and then tonight the screen packed up. I'm gutted but I'm "making do" with my sisters computer at the moment, strictly for my coursework (say no more!).
This may or may not have bothered you, but I want to put it out there because I'm not one of those bloggers who can't really be bothered - I was in mourning for my laptop!

I've had a pretty rubbish week, I've eaten too many sugar-fuelled pancakes, a Cookies and Cream Haagen Daaz and Mini Eggs. I tried and failed at Pilates on Tuesday - never will I be trying that again! I had a muscle spasm/cramp in my leg right there in the studio - I almost died of pain and embarrassment!
This weekend will be spent sleeping too much, eating very healthily and shopping for Christmas presents. I still need to buy a few of the Glamour magazines i.e. Nails Inc polishes if I can - I saw the mushroom one today but I'm so OCD I want to buy them all together - I want the red, the deep purple, maybe the baby pink and I probably won't get the mushroom because I own Barry M Mushroom.

I need to get to Frankfurt Christmas Markets in Birmingham City Centre vair vair soon. I'm apalled I live reasonably near and I haven't been yet - the place is amazing! I'm thinking next Saturday evening.
Oh, and a reminder of my lovely giveaway.

I hadn't realised but there's only 8 DAYS until it ends! I'm so excited about sending off a pretty parcel to a lucky lady!

Anyway, a few images all courtesy of We Heart It........

xoxo