These boots are made for walkin'...

I know, i know  not very original!

I finally found a pair of boots that will go with my maxi knitted dress from Warehouse. These hiking boot beauties are very on-trend with the sheepskin lining and lace-up detailing.

I did decide to brave the cold weather whilst out shopping working the maxi knitted dress and flip-flop combo, i must admit i looked a right idiot especially when it started to rain. Perfect outfit choice for a sales assistant spending all day parading around the shop floor, not so good for sharpening the elbows at Topshop's sale! Standing still i looked alright as you couldn't see my (nearly) frost-bitten toes. Whilst every other girl was kicked in either Uggs, worker/biker boots - you know the one's X Factor's One Direction wear with the trousers tucked in, or fashionable hiking boots.

I didn't want to spend too much on a pair as i reckon i won't be wearing these come next winter but for a one-season only purchase £29.99 was very reasonable courtesy of New Look. I must admit i not really a fan of New Look shoes, they did get me through my uni days but now I'm earning a little more cash, i want to try and avoid that cheap plastic shoe look. However these don't look too dissimilar from Topshop and River Island's offerings and at a fraction of the price. I am more of a high heels and knee-high boots kinda girl and don't often work the casual look but these would look great teamed with leggings or skinny jeans and woolly socks or with a dress and tights.

Fingers cross i get the wear out of them because i have far too many unworn ankle boots collecting dust in my wardrobe.

I did manage to get two items in the Topshop sale, the sale itself was a bit mis-match, loads of maxi dresses and lace underwear but hardly anything decent apart from the shoes.

These jeggings I'd already bought last summer but returned them because i wasn't too sure - it was when the whole jegging thing had just come in fashion and the mags were saying they were more suited to the skinny leggy parade - think Whitney Port.  I think i must have tried them on before about three times in Toppers but was never convinced this pair suited me. These jeggings are better quality than my Dorothy Perkins pairs as they are designed and fit like jeans, so you don't get that whole pregnancy jean look if your top rides up - bonus!

To complete my purchases is a simple cut shift dress with exposed zip.

Some of you eagle-eyed readers will notice i have this dress in a pink/blush colour which i teamed with black and gold accessories for a evening look. I really like the shape of these dresses and they fit really well - not too tight, not too loose - the print is a bit girly for me with the occasional red hearts but i can just about deal with it! I was surprised this was still left on the rail actually would've definitely thought it would had been snapped up but their lost is my gain. For a smart look i would combine it with a blazer, tights and heels or for a casual daytime look with the jeggings above? Either way it's gorge and very me!

I only went to return a jumper!

I've just had a very eventful afternoon of shopping today. I only went to return my Warehouse camel sweater and ended up with bags of shopping - eek! V.naughty!

The purpose of this visit was to try and exchange my camel jumper for another colour. I did buy mine online and the colour just seems to wash me out so i was hoping i could sneakily do an exchange in my Outfit - simple eh? Oh no, unless you don't mind a little bit of embarrassment don't try to con/lie to a sales assistant they always seem to catch you out - damn! Tried to say i had lost my receipt and do a quick exchange for the purple colour, even though it still had the labels attached the sales assistant was having none of it. "You can't return items to concession stores blah, blah, blah. Looks like a trip to the post office is in order.

The camel jumper is question... ...you see looks very nice online, but in the flesh the colour has more of a gold tone to it - definitely not great for my complexion, but love the gold buttons - thumbs up for detail. The fabric is ever-so soft as well - cashmere it is not, a viscose blend.



 
I couldn't do the exchange but still bought the dark purple jumper as an ideal winter piece.
 

I am a little disappointed this colour didn't have the gold buttons, as i do love gold accessorising, but the grey/black still work. The belt was a sale bargain from Miss Selfridge only £12, i had my eye on this before but £25 was a bit steep for belt. This will probably become my LBD's best friend.
 
Now i have a thing for black trousers, i love them, whether its jean, jeggings, leggings, harems, chinos - i don't care but i do live in them. Warehouse and Dorothy Perkins both have some great sort of soft suede trousers in at the moment which i am loving. Ever since harem became en vogue for summer, i have been embracing my inner MC Hammer and working them to death. I was torn between two pairs, i went with Dorothy Perkins because they were a little cheaper and look a bit smarter so i can just add heels for work.
 

You can't really see the detailing clearly in the picture, but they come with a tie belt and have low slung pockets and a tight ankle.
 
I reckon that's tomorrow's work outfit sorted.
 
I've been after a new make-up bag for ages but I've been looking for some pretty ones that will add some glamour to my office desk. I've been using the free Topshop one up until now but as it's cream I'm struggling to keep it clean not to mention the pen marks that seem to keep appearing!
 
Ted Baker is usually my fail-safe and i headed to Boots to pick this one up.
 

I'm not usually one for florals but purple is my favourite colour and i love the bow - v. pretty. Best of all i used my Boots points so if didn't cost me anything!

I've been determined to turn into a gym bunny especially before the onslaught of Christmas with all the parties and meals going on, not to mention the amount of chocolates and biscuits appearing daily in the office, so i was in need of some stylish gymwear that will distract from the day's make-up sweating down my face. A quick nip into Sports Soccer and I'm £65 lighter but two sports bras, two sports tops and a pair of tight fit trousers/leggings heavier - all set for Wed, Thurs and Fri gym sesh. Pre-gym OOTD's to follow soon.

My final splurge was a cheap one courtesy of Barry M and Saskia The Style Fairy - saw it their first. I have to rave about their new nail paint, Instant Nail Effects £3.95 which is a top coat that creates a nail art effect on top of your already painted nails. Hard to explain but have a look - this is definitely the future of nails.

I've only painted the little finger nail as you can see - it was hard to pick up on camera but i tried, see below.
 

I love it - so I'm off now to paint the rest - what do you think?

Style advice needed please?

Right I've just received my online order from Warehouse and got the Maxi Knitted Dress, it fits well, if a little see-through so tights or leggings are needed to avoid getting arrested for indecent exposure, but i don't know what shoes to wear with it. The image on their website shows the length is to the floor on the model, maybe she's shorter than me but it's around low ankle on me and I've been through my wardrobe and can't see anything that looks OK apart from flip-flops or flat sandals. Help!! I'm planning on cinching the waist and combining with a fur gilet (faux of course) or a leopard print scarf or jewel-toned knit snood, so flip-flops are not really a good look in winter! Can you see my dilemma? The only ones i think may work are my multi-buckled strap grey wedges from Oasis, or i am planning on buying some Burberry rip-off shearling boots from New Look. Any ideas????

Warehouse Maxi Knitted Dress

This picture is from the Asos site and i don't think the boots look right, i have got open toe ankle boots but the length of the dress just rests on the top of the boots and looks silly - ankle bashers anyone?!

These are the Oasis wedges I'm thinking - yay or nay?

Oasis Multi Buckled Strap Wedges

Or what about the Burberry-esque boots from New Look?

New Look Buckle Boot £34.99

Any advice or recommendations greatly appreciated!!!

Elemis Xmas gift sets

I love Elemis skincare, in particular their facial products. The Pro-Collagen range is fantastic for anti-ageing and is recommended for 25+, as that will be me next year i am saving up for the Marine Cream which costs £125 for 100ml!! Everyone swears by the Tri-Enzyme range for resurfacing, uneven skin tone, fine lines and blemishes which describes my skin, i must add luckily i only have v. few fine lines around the eye area, and i am currently awaiting delivery of the Tri-Enzyme Face Mask. Products i am currently using and love are the S.O.S Emergency Cream, Maximum Moisture Day Cream, Maximum Replenish Night Cream, Skin Buff,  Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt and Exotic Island Flower Body Balm.

They have released their Christmas 2010 gift sets and i am debating over which to buy for myself and which to buy for my mum. Gifts set are great value for money and a good idea to introduce someone to a new skincare brand.

Have a look for yourself  - happy choosing! 

Timeless Radiance £195

- Pro-Collagen Marine Cream 100ml

- Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsules 60 caps

- Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream 50ml

- Pro-Collagen Eye Renewal 15ml

- Pro-Collagen Quartz Lift Mask 15ml

- Gentle Rose Exfoliator 15ml

Perfect Pro-Collagen £65

- Pro-Collagen Marine Cream 30ml

- Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream 30ml

- Pro-Radiance Cream Cleanser 30ml

- Pro-Collagen Quartz Lift Mask
- Papaya Enzyme Peel 15ml
- Facial Mitt

Sparkling Beauty £50

- Pro-Collagen Marin Cream 30ml
- Cellular Recovery Skinn Bliss Capsules 14 caps

- Pro-Collagen Lifting Treatment Neck and Bust 15ml

- Visible Brilliance Serum 10ml

- Elemis Eau de Parfum 4ml

Revealing Radiance £50

- Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Facial Wash 50ml

- Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Night Cream 30ml

- Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Gel Mask 15ml

- Pro-Collagen Marine Cream 15ml

- Tri Enzyme Resurfacing Serum 10ml

Exotic Spa Secrets £49.50
- Skin Nourishing Milk Bath 400ml
- Exotic Frangipani Monoi Bath & Shower Cream 200ml
- Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt 100ml

Skin Brilliance £49

- Rehydrating Rosepatel Cleanser 200ml

- Soothing Apricot Tiner 200ml

- Maximum Replenish Night Cream 50ml

- Maximum Moisture Day Cream 20ml

For the men:

Essential Grooming Solutions £50

- Ice-Cool Foaming Shave Gel 100ml

- Time Defence Wrinkle Delay 50ml

- Deep Cleanse Facial Wash 50ml
- Enerrgising Skin Scrub 20ml
- Time Defence Eye Reviver 5ml

Daily Men's Grooming £25
- Skin Soothe Shave Gel 150ml
- Deep Cleanse Facial Wash 50ml

- Daily Moisture Boost 20ml

Enriching Body Treats £29

- Wild Lavender Hand and Body Wash 100ml
- Sharp Shower and Bath Gel 100ml
- Skin Nourishing Shower Cream 100ml
- Exotic Lime and Ginger Hand and Body Wash 100ml
- Exotic Frangipani Monoi Bath & Shower Cream 50ml
- Skin Nourishing Hand and Body Lotion 50ml

Skin Nourishing Milk Bath Limited Edition £49

I've decided the Perfect Pro-Collagen for mum and i may get the Skin Brilliance set - the cleanser and toners are nornally £19 each and the night cream is full size costs £40 so £49 for the set is a bargain.

Pre-Xmas beauty buys

I'm so excited to tell you that my Urban Decay Naked Palette arrived - yay!! Disappointingly i had to reorder from Boots as it was sold out at Debenhams despite them taking my order, not good customer service guys. Anyway Boots can deliver to your store free of charge and don't forget the points. I think this is possibly the most beautiful palette i own, all the colours are amazing and i love the combination of the different eyeshadow textures from shimmer to matte, perfect for day and night. I was so excited to use the palette that the following day i decided to experiment for work, but i didn't really give myself enough time and went a little crazy with the shimmer shadows that i ended redoing my eye makeup 4 times, not happy as I've wasted the primer already. I got a little frustrated so haven't got an EOTD to post but rest assured the primer i absolutely love and can't believe it's not been in my life before - this is one product that is going to become a staple of my daily make-up routine bye-bye creased eyeshadow, hello smouldering smokey eyes! I used the primer under an Avon smokey grey combo and it lasted all day, so no need for lunchtime touch-ups, although after the morning i had i was still trying to remove the amount of glitter drop-out i had all over my face from playing around with the shimmers - best left for night i think.

Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow Palette



From L-R; Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal.

I won't bore you with the same spiel as everyone else or the swatches as there are plenty already out there in the blog world and on eBay, but my opinion is i prefer the darker shades, my personal favourites are Darkhorse, Smog, Hustle, Creep and Gunmetal. I sometimes find bronze and golds hard to work with because of my olive skin tone so I'll be looking for some tutorials on YouTube for some tips, if anyone has any for me to try please feel free to share.

Now I've mentioned before i work in a health spa and unfortunately for my bank account we have a beauty shop (and a generous 25% discount) which just so happens to have had their latest delivery of Christmas gift sets. These usually sell out fast and with over 100 therapists at work i need to get in there first. The gift sets are amazing value for money and make great gifts for the family. My mum is always partial to an Elemis Pro-Collagen Quartz set!

I picked up some Spa Find (sometimes referred to as Finders) sets, which is a natural mineral skincare brand. Their products include Dead Sea Minerals and organic plant extracts great for re-hydrating the skin. They don't contain prabens or genetically modified organisms (GMO's) and are hypo-allergenic and importantly not tested on animals, thumbs up! Spa Find is extremely good for people who suffer from dry skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis as their products are really gentle on the skin including their mineral exfo which is a fave of mine, also they can be used by people with an external nut allergy. I should be on commission hehe!

I got two gift sets, the first is the Lovely Glow Spa Luxury Exfoliation Set which costs £25 but worth £45 (lucky me, i get a 10% staff discount).

Spa Find Lovely Glow gift set



A peek of what's inside...

Included is:
- Radiance Anti-Ageing Cranberry Salt Brushing 500g
- Heavenly Hydration Mineralizing Bath Shower Gel 15ml
- Heavenly Hydration Mineralizing Body Lotion 15ml
- Heavenly Hydration Hand Care Cream 15ml
- Luxury Spa Candle ( smells de-lish!)

The second set is the Lovely Body & Hair Spa Body & Hair Set for deep nourishment £35 worth £92.

Spa Find Lovely Body & Hair gift set

Spa Find inside sneak peek

This set is bloody brilliant if i do say so as the products are FULL SIZE!!!
Included:
- Heavenly Hydration Mineralizing Body Lotion 400ml
- Heavenly Hydration Mineralizing Bath Shower Gel 400ml
- Heavenly Hydration Mineralizing Shampoo 400ml
- Heavenly Hydration Mineralizing Conditioning Scalp and Body Mud 500ml
- Heavenly Hydration Salt Brushing 50g
- Luxury Pumpkin Wash Puff

I bought both body sets but there are others available including face and hands. I do have duplicates of the products so i will be putting all the sample sizes in a gift set for Xmas for someone. The only downside to the sets is the packaging its a little cheap and tacky, a bit Superdrug, but I'll probably keep the smaller red bag for my ever-expanding cosmetics. Both gift sets come with  "Home Spa Regime" with instructions on how and when to use the products. Can you guess what I'll be doing tonight?

Please find the link below of details of all their gift sets for Christmas 2010,
http://www.spafindskincare.com/tradeonly/latestnews_2007.htm. It doesn't look like they've got the sets I've bought available to buy online but try emailing for stockists.


A quick NOTD to finish, i've painted my nails using the freebie Ciate nail polish from this month's Marie Claire in Dangerous Affair 013.



Ciate Dangerous Affair 013 without flash

Ciate Dangerous Affair 013 with flash


I can report it is day 2 and after a full day's work including typing there are no signs of chipping so so far so good. I did mention before that there is a 15% discount off Ciate on the box but there is also a 25% discount offered in the magazine p.131.

I wanted your opinion on FrontCover make-up from Boots, there deal of the week is a FrontCover To Go gift set complete with 20 removeable eyeshadows and interchangeable compact reduced from £35 to £16. Is it worth it and is the range any good? http://www.boots.com/en/Front-Cover-To-Go-Eye-Collection_1115227/?cm_mmc_o=HFzbkCjCWwclkwffwyCjCioviviCjC_zEEwyv&?cm_mmc_o=HFzbkCjCWwclkwffwyCjCioviviCjC%20C%20
They look ok and the price is good, it only runs until Thursday so i would love to hear from anyone on this please. To buy or not to buy?!

Much love xx

Guess who's back?

I'm really sorry guys that i've been a bit slack on the posting front but i've been making some pretty life-changing decisons! In my absence i hope you've been showing some love to other blogs - i'm addicted now, every time i'm online i can't resist a sneeky peek at other bloggers and catching up on their latest buys - me thinks this is why i've been neglecting my own! I've even gained a new follower - whoop whoop to lenka.komrskova! Maybe i should go away more often - might increase my following! Nah.

Just before i give you a quick rundown on my recent purchases, i wanted to tell you about a great magazine offer i picked up on my weekly Tesco shop (on a Saturday, i must be mad!), Marie Claire is giving away a free Ciate Nail Polish worth £9. You can choose from Dangerous Affair 013 - a deep raspberry or a bright red/orange, not sure on the name of that one as i got the first colour. I've yet to try Ciate polishes so hopefully the quality will be just a good as my fav Nails Inc, and i'll invest in some other colours courtsey of the 15% discount they're offering online with the polish (find the code on back of the nail polish bottle).The magazine is £3.50 so you might as well get both colours if you can - very on-trend colours for a/w. 

I've recently been embracing what my mama gave to me and going au naturale. Some may say i am lucky to have curly hair but throughout childhood all i ever wanted was poker straight hair, you always want what you can't have, eh! My nickname used to be candy floss - can you guess why? Oh yes, my hair was just like it, a big frizz ball - i don't think i was aware of the cardinal sin with curly hair - brushing it! Well i did discover GHD's and they say the rest is history. Now as i'm in desperate need of a cut but i'm really trying to get past the flicky out stage, i've been leaving my hair to dry naturally and just applying a little serum to define and tame the curls.

What do you think?

You'll have to excuse the curl at the front! Don't worry i pinned that back when i went out.

I'm now obsessed with hair accessories and have been trying to hunt down some cool one's - i found this gold heart hairband in Dorothy Perkins for around £7.00. It will even double up as a necklace!

My delivery of the sideways cross arrived as well! I first saw this on Lollipop26's blog and i've been lusting after ever since, she mentioned where she got her's from Etsy btw and i indulged. To be honest i thought the quality would be better but it is 14k gold filled and looks v.dainty and pretty on - my mum thinks it some sort of anti-christ thing! It's fashion darling! I paid around £30 including shipping from America.

I also picked up a heart charm necklace from Topshop that is v.cute and will go with my hairband when i'm feeling a bit girly.

Bargain - £4

As you can see i'm starting to fall in love with charm necklaces and will be wearing mine altogether for that vintage vibe.

I've also been changing my make-up look recently - channeling that 40's look and working my inner vamp with a little red. I painted my nails in Nails Inc Victoria & Albert and i've been sporting red and plum pouts.

I know i've not gone the full make-up look - i thought the lips and the nails were enough for a daytime look but i quite like the pared-down make-up look - less is more as they say!

Now i've blogged about Avon make-up before, but i just wanted to show you how much i like their eyeshadow palettes. I've three so far, Purple Haze, Smokey Eyes and Tiger's Eye (i think they're the names). I am a real palette lover, they're great for work or on-the-go and saves carrying so much make-up around. 

The Tiger's Eye is a great dupe for Chantecaille’s Limited Edition Tiger In The Wild Palette which costs £73 , Avon's palette was only £3.50 in the sale. Bonus.

Avon



Chantecialle



Chantecialle's palette may have a hefty price-tag but a proportion will be given to a save the tiger charity so it's all good! Both palette's are Limited Edition so grab them while you can.

Just a last mention that i've ordered Urban Decay's Naked palette, i know i'm a bit late on the bandwagon but it was sold out everywhere, now it's back in stock on Boots and Debenhams online so i am awaiting delivery as i type.