Bank Holiday + Payday = Shop, Shop, Shop!

Well with having 5 days off over the bank holiday and a little bit of glorious sunshine i decided to venture into Nottingham for some much needed payday shopping.  Now i came prepared, I'd researched on the Internet and noted down what items i wanted to buy/look at and calculated optimum shopping time – reasoned Monday 9am, hoping the shoppers would be too hung-over from the weekend to want to brace the crowds. After a bit of a tantrum from me due to an extreme case of bad hair day ended up arriving at due destination around 11.00 hours.

Now high on my hit-list was a new bag for work, something professional and classy that would also fit my new NetBook in. The contenders were Warehouse’s Satchel £85 – just back in stock in Tan and Black or Ted Baker’s Herby £119 available in Black or cherry red/raspberry. Now I've been in love with Warehouse’s satchel ever since it appeared in Look magazine and i was expecting it to be just as beautiful in real life, but i was v.disappointed. First of all i was expecting the structure of the bag to be quite hard, but it was more soft and slouchy and overall it didn’t look very expensive. I have a pet-peeve about bags looking cheap – complete no-no, that’s why i will never buy them online unless I've seem them in the flesh. Now even looking at the picture online I'm still in love and i only saw the tan version so hopefully the black one might look better and i may buy in the future. Now the Ted Baker bag i first saw in John Lewis and i was undecided as the price is slightly higher than i would usually pay, i was after the Herby with gold detailing but the store only had it with chrome/silver detailing again in danger of looking cheap.

The bag i did buy is from River Island £39.99 and it’s style is similar to a doctor’s bag, very in-keeping with the granny-chic trend as seen on the catwalk by Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs.

It looks very hard-wearing with the studs on the bottom, and brass detailing and features a mock-croc patent panel on the front and back complete with double handle and strap detailing  for that Mulberry Alexa look.

One of the trends for Autumn/Winter ‘10 you should be rocking  is leopard print so embrace your inner Bet Lynch and channel Dolce & Gabbana (it never went out of fashion for them), it’s all over the high-street right now.  I picked up two pieces from H&M, a jersey open-fronted jacket and a scarf.  The jacket i will be teaming with black and gold and staying strictly away from the red (unless it’s on the nails), you don’t want to look too sexy siren, think more smouldering temptress – understated elegance is so much more sexier!

  

In the first image the colours looks almost black and white but the print is the traditional leopard colours with the main background colour creamy beige as you can see in the second.

The scarf i picked up in the sale, strictly speaking it’s a sarong and was with the summer swimwear items. Again it’s the traditional beige, black, brown print but the background colour is a lilac/purple. As it is sold as a sarong the material is quite shear but having so much material means it’s hardly noticeable as a scarf. I predict this will become the most hard-working piece in my wardrobe this season, the flexibility of the piece is endless, neck scarf, head scarf, belt or come summer sarong!  If you can manage to find something similar out there, the cost per wear makes it a bargain - £9.99!

Now i know leopard print is a very distinctive look and not for everyone so if you’re not feeling brave enough to wear it all over ( i don’t literally mean all over!) just accessorise, like with the scarf or a belt or look for a little bit of detailing such as on pumps or bags.  Don’t forget to search through your wardrobe first though, i found i had 2 scarves – slightly different prints/colours mind and some Primarni pumps i haven’t worn for years – happy days!

On t0 work wear items i headed to Topshop where I’d seen some harem/peg leg trousers that would look great teamed with some mid-heel courts and a sheer blouse and blazer for the office.  The trousers i purchased were Crepe Fold Over Hareem pants – i keep wanting to call harem’s pants instead of trousers for some reason – they’re navy blue with gold stud detail on the waist panel. I did try on a few pairs of harem/peg legs – a must to make sure they look right and not too MC Hammer-ish. I found this to be the best for me as they fit well around the groin area – not too much waste fabric there and just skimmed over my legs finishing at the ankle. I really like the turn-ups which makes them more fashion-forward, I've tried turn-ups on my peg-legs and it doesn’t look right with the way the legs are cut. The one fall-back is i think they will crease easily due to the fabric so one-wear only trousers.

The next item is a cream sheer Victoriana blouse, now i didn’t try this on and haven’t since but after finally searching for one without any lipstick or foundation marks  - don’t you hate that, hello - surely it’s a sign they’re wearing too much make-up – i thought it would look great as a piece to layer up come Winter – I'm thinking gilet and jeans for casual and leopard print jacket and skirt for work.

Front…

 

…and back.

Take a look with the H&M jacket.

Accessorise with gold jewellery and of course a Michael Kors watch! I’m loving the anchor charm necklace i got from Accessorize £5 – after deliberating between the anchor, swallow or locket i decided on the anchor as it reminds me of  the Dogeared Carpe Diem Lollipop26 blogged about that i really want btw – sold out everywhere.

Right guys it’s been a long post and I've not even mentioned the beauty products i got so I'll save them for another day but before i go my OOTD – enjoy x

 

Dress – Warehouse

Belt – Dorothy Perkins

Shoes – Holster – from work but they’re Australian brand try googling them

Jacket – River Island

Bag – Warehouse

Necklace – Accessorise

Watch – Michael Kors

Bit of a festival vibe look going on – i did like it but looked the same as about 10 other girls i spotted out shopping – boo!

Don’t you just love a freebie?!

Today i set my alarm for 7.30am in preparation for snagging a freebie! When i say a freebie it’s kind of one of those offers where you have to buy something to get a freebie, but if you’re planning on flexing the plastic anyway it’s a win-win situation. 

The item in question is Pandora jewellery – now unless you’ve been living on another planet recently, you can’t have escaped the phenomenon of their charm bracelets. I first fell in love after seeing them advertised in Grazia a few years back, they were quite exclusive and not readily available.  Now it seems as they’ve gained more publicity, everyone has jumped on the bandwagon and you can’t walk through my local town without a girl wearing one, forget Girl With the Pearl Earring, how about Girl With a Pandora Charm Bracelet?

My local family-owned jewellers Pearces were running the promotion – Spend £75 or more on Pandora jewellery and receive a free leather bracelet, now i know this has been running all over the country and i imagine has been very profitable! I’ve had my silver snake chain for over a year and have mostly silver charms but i was looking for some coloured beads inspired my newly painted nails!  After queuing for about 30 mins i purchased 2 charms, a pink Murano glass £28 and a Pink Opal £50 and picked a white single braided leather bracelet worth £35 for free!

Have a look at the goodies:

Along with my purchases and free bracelet, came some chocolates, polishing cloth to keep my silver super-shiny and brochure of Pandora’s full range of jewellery, ready for me to eye up my next buy.

Polishing cloth – missed off man pic.

 

Free leather bracelet!

Two new charms!

What my silver Pandora bracelet looks like with the new charms.

And need to show you my inspiration for the pink charms – my newly painted Revlon Pink Nude nails with Leighton Denny’s Angel Dust over the top for a sparkly finish.

With flash so you can see the glittery finish – best i could do with the camera after about 10 attempts!

Just to mention as my laptop has been slowly dying on me, not to mention the cracked screen after i stood on it oops – note to self don’t put laptops on the floor beside my bed, i bought a netbook from Curry’s. The one i got is advertised on TV, Packard Bell Dot something in the Bank Holiday sale until wed was £329.00 now £199.00 – complete bargain. It comes with a pouch to keep it safe and software including Photoshop so i can make my pics look better – (no cheating on beauty pics though!), Windows Home XP, webcam and a wonderful invention Windows Live Writer. A program that lets you upload your blog posts live to you blog – genius.

 

And it’s so dinky it can fit in your handbag – have a look compared to Glamour mag – now i just need to find a new handbag worthy of my netbook , get me I'm officially a proper blogger hehe! Soon to be found on my day off in Cafe Nero with a fruity frappe and a chocolate croissant (what calories?) – oh i do miss Starbucks please open in my town!

Well that’s about it for today, before i go a quick shout-out to my new hair – hardly new really but finally got my fringe cut so i can see again – also working the No7 Plum Rebel i got the other day with a bit of eyeliner (cheap & cheerful Collection 2000) and Clarins Eye shadow Colour Quartet Palette in Earth over the lid. Not gone into too much detail as you can’t really see the make-up – sorry, i will try harder in future!

What bargains have you got recently? Please share!

Nail polish haul

There are many things that i love so much that i have a huge collection, these are in no particular order:

- Shoes
- Handbags
- Dresses
- Watches
- Lipglosses/Lipsticks
- Nail Polishes

The last of which is where this new post comes in, i just picked up 4 new colours to add to my ever growing collection of polishes.

This is already what my collection looks like!

Boots still had their spend £5 and receive a free £5 Ruby & Millie or No 7 voucher offer on so i couldn't resist a little pre-pay-day beauty splurge.

The polishes are from left to right: Revlon Nail Enamel 900 Pink Nude, Revlon Nail Enamel 028 Minted, Rimmel 60 Seconds 805 Grey Matter, Rimmel I Love Fruities Lasting Finish 053 Apricot Punch.

Now i have been trying to get my hands on the Revlon Minted for ages but is always seems to be sold out but today it was in stock and they had a 2 for £8 offer on so after debating over the dark reds i indulged in the pale peach colour which compliments the green well for a mani and pedi duo.

The Grey Matter from Rimmel is one of their new shades and i predict along with the usual muddy browns and vampy reds, greys will be big for this Autumn/Winter, you can tell by how popular a colour is by how many their are left on the shelf and they were only two of this colour but plenty of the rest of the new collection which included a shiny black and deep purple.

The final polish is from the I Love Fruities collection, which i think is only available in some drugstores, i got mine from Superdrug as my local Boots didn't stock them. Now i think these have been out a while and the colours are more suited for summer, there are 4 shades in the collection, Cranberry Zest, Lemon Drop, Strawberry Fizz and Apricot Punch. They are all quite bright fun colours that would look good equally on toes and hands. The reason why they are called I Love Fruities is that when dried they have the scent of the name of the polish! I was a little sceptical but when i tried the Apricot Punch it definitely smells of apricots, which beats that nasty chemical smell that gives you headaches. I'm not sure how long the scent lasts but its a great novelty idea to encourage us beauty lovers to part with our cash on yet more nail polish. The best thing is the colour has great depth so you only need one coat - bonus!

Take a look at what they look like on and in comparison to the bottle.

These are all with 2 coats - but like i said the Apricot Punch only needs one coat and the Pink Nude could probably do with a third. Which one is your fav?

As mentioned in my previous post i did pick up the other lipstick shade from the Limited Edition Autumn Collection its called Plum Rebellion and costs £9.75 or £4.75 with a No 7 Boots voucher.

It looks quite pinky on camera but in the flesh it is a dark raspberry colour.

And the swatch - just one coat.

This is the perfect shade to team with camel - the new black for the season, just take a look at Fall 2010 Runway show from Chloe - divine!

Heres's a sneak preview of my next post for all you fashion fans i will be looking at the must-haves for Autumn/Winter, I'm talking the Camel, Aviator Jackets, Leather, Pointy Courts, Shearling Boots, Old Lady Handbags - Neo Speedy anyone? Looks like we're heading back to the 70's.

Latest Haul

Bye bye MK5166  hello MK5055!

Well i returned the MK 5166 to John Lewis intent on getting a replacement but as they didn't have any more in stock the lure of the MK5055 was too much and i succumbed and bought it online. The benefit of Internet shopping is that you can shop around to get the best price, i got the watch from Shade Station who offered a price match service, so if you can find the watch selling at a lower price they will match it. In the end i paid around £150 including free next day delivery, the watch came beautifully packaged and they even threw in some sweets - i like! I think i actually like this one more as it's much more subtle, the gold tone is not so in your face and very much my style. I think the missing crystals swayed the decision, i intend on having my Michael Kors to last me a lifetime and i know the 5055 won't look outdated in 20 years as its timeless.

My top tip for all you beauty lovers out there is at Boots, if you spend £5 in store you receive a free £5 No7 or Ruby & Millie voucher to use in store! Now my local store is quite small and doesn't stock Ruby & Millie but I'm definitely not disappointed with the offerings from No7. I picked up two products from their new Autumn Limited Edition season collection. The first, Nude Rebel Lipstick which is described as a soft matte finish is the perfect nude lipstick to compliment the camel colours we'll be wearing next season.

What it looks like from the bullet - note the chipped nail polish!

What it looks like on.

And the swatch - it looks quite pinky but is very close to my natural colour so a great everyday colour.

The second product is No7 Top Matte Coat - a clear varnish which turns any nail polish colour matte. Matte nail colours were big last winter and I've yet to try them. I'd  been lusting after the OPI Suede Collection Fall 2009 but was sold out everywhere in the UK, the only place you could get them was on ebay but a crazy prices. Leighton Denny have a Feature Finish duo set which includes Make it Matter and Crystal Finish depending on the topcoat you want, i have tried the Leighton Denny but was still a bit unsure like a lot of people with these matte finishes.

I quite like here over Nails Inc Kensington Palace which is a pearlised colour but the No7 Matte Top Coat has neutralised the shimmer effect and made it a flat charcoal grey. I'm a big fan and can't wait to try it out on my old nail polishes. What do you think?

I was quite crafty with the voucher offer, having spent £5 on toiletries i got my first voucher and paid for the lipstick which would had been £4.75 but i needed to spend £5 to get another voucher to use against the nail polish so picked up Glamour mag, got my second voucher and paid only £1.75 for the nail colour - bargain! As long as you don't mind looking like an idiot going to the till three times, its a great deal and is running until the first week of September. Also if you like No7, they have a separate offer where if you spend over £22 you receive a free travel kit which includes some of their best-selling products like the Protect and Perfect

day cream trial size and a full sized Moisture Drench Lipstick!

After all this beauty talk back to fashion and my very first Outfit of the Day as favoured by fellow bloggers Lolipop26 and Amy Antoinette - love you work guys!

Jacket - Warehouse

Top - Asos

Vest (under top) - Dorothy Perkins

Jeggings - Dorothy Perkins

Shoes - Faith

Necklace - Accessorize (customised!)

And my inspiration...can you guess?

Of course - fashion royalty Victoria Beckham - i bow down to you!

Here's my top tip, i always cut out images of outfits or looks that i like and create a scrapbook so if I'm ever having a "I've got nothing to wear" day, i refer to the book and hey presto try and rework/copy a look i like from my wardrobe.

Latest haul

I love shopping but hate the waiting involved with online ordering - my Asos order arrived after i chose the free delivery option, UK Super Save, which means you have to wait up to 6 days, and on the 6 day it was delivered and i am not in love.

The French Connection dress I've had my eye on since the start of the season has not lived up to my very high expectations. Usually with French Connection you can expect the quality of the items to be quite good but this black and white stripe dress looks a bit cheap and I'm sure i got a waft of smoke when i opened the packet. I thought it could have been the plastic smell from the packaging but on second sniff and close inspection of the packet, i reckon someone has already worn this dress and returned it but still with the label on.

On the size 8 model it looks great, but i didn't realise that it is a lot shorter and tighter than anticipated and the fabric which is 68% viscose looks like it would get bobbly after a couple of wears.

I've not posted a pic of it on as I'm sporting a cold sore and definitely not looking my best. I've only tried it on once so i might give it another chance and dress it up how i would wear it and see if it looks any better and decide whether to return for an exchange but i reckon it's going to be a refund. Here's a thought if i return the dress i can use the money to buy the two Sekonda watches - happy days.

Have you ever ordered something online - only to be disappointed when it arrives?

My second purchase was a lace waistcoat from Dorothy Perkins - £20

I thinks it's got a bit of a festival vibe to it and i wore mine out yesterday for dinner with the girls with my black maxi and brown waist belt. Worn layered over pretty much anything it would look fab, even with your favourite bikini on the beach. It's very Kate Moss and the lace gives it that vintage look - i could imagine it on Nicole Ritchie, accessorised with her House of Harlow range, long wavy hair with halo braid - very ethereal.


Well my beautiful French Connection birthday shoes arrived and they are lovely. At first i nearly cried because i couldn't fit my feet into them, i blame a full day's work in 4 inch heels, but this morning i tried and with a little pushing they fit. Because of the platform and the stiletto heel, i could be in danger of falling over in these, so definitely a taxi and sober only shoe.

In the beauty blogging world it's not all Mac, the drugstore products are just as good and never underestimate Avon, if it's good enough for Reese Witherspoon it's good enough for me - i do love a celebrity endorsement.

I got two nail polish colours, Peppermint Leaf and Luxe Lavender. I've been after a lilac colour for ages and i was very impressed.

I did three coats to get an even coverage, but two would give you that opaque look. I've already had plenty of compliments and it's a great summer colour.

The peppermint green looks quite similar to the Jade Beauty UK polish i bought a few weeks ago, I've not had a chance to compare on the nails so i will show you, i was hoping it would be more of a mint green, but that's what happens when you buy from a brochure.

Like or dislike?

Watches galore

I am officially in love and his name is Michael.

I have a Michael Kors gold watch!!!

I eventually decided on the Michael Kors after dragging my mum around all the jewellers in town. Before, i was torn between the Kors or a ToyWatch, but i couldn't find the shop that sold the ToyWatch so Kors it was, and even that was hard to find only Debenhams or John Lewis had them in stock. There were quite a few i liked but i settled on a MK5166.

I'm so gutted though, as in my excited haste to buy and not to mention the bright shop lights dazzling me, i failed to notice that there are 2 crystals missing! Only found out when i got it home so now i need to take it back. The only problem being is that it was the last one in the shop and i didn't even get a discount but then i never asked! I've spoken to customer services who weren't really that helpful, you would think that because they have sold me a faulty item, they could have one delivered to the store waiting for me to exchange? But no, i can get it delivered to the store but only if i pay for it upfront online - great -so I'm going to have fork out another £199. Lets hope the new one is perfect. I do love it though, my mum said i should have gone with one without the crystals in case they fall out again, but i do love a little bit of bling. 

Now I've found Michael i think i could be faithful to him for life as i also love this white chronograph too, definitely on a wish-list to buy.

This is like a matte off-white and would look really good with a tan, i think it also came in different colours like lilac so very fashionable for now.

Anyway like i said before, now i've got the expensive gold watch i was going to get a cheap plastic watch for casual wear and i have found the best Chanel J12 lookalike at Argos!

The Sekonda on the left in white versus the Chanel J12 in white!

And again in black, Sekonda on the left and Chanel J12 on the right - amazing!

At only £19.99 i'm going to get both colours.