Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas



Merry Christmas to all my followers & readers, thank you for all your lovely comments, feedbacks and support this year.

I hope you have a lovely Christmas and amazing New Year!


Saturday, December 22, 2012

What to Wear on Christmas Day...


Outfit One -  Dress: Miss Selfridge Shoes: Aldo
Outfit Two - Jumper: New Look Skirt: DaisyStreet.co.uk Boots: Missguided.co.uk
Outfit Three - Jumper: TopShop Shorts: FashionUnion.com
Outfit Four - Top: Mango Shorts: Own the Runway Shoes: Missguided.co.uk
Outfit Five - Dress: Miss Selfridge Heels: Zappos.com


So heres my next instalment of "What to Wear" hopefully by now you'll have all your present shopping done, wrapped & under the tree by now so you can turn your attentions to the second most important thing on Christmas day, what to wear!
I've included an putfit for every scenario whether your going round to family or friends and want to get dressed up (take a look at Outfit 1 & 5) having people round to yours and still want to look great while staying comfy ( outfits 3 & 4) or if you just want me to be festive yet chic regardless where your going then outfit 2 is for you!

I've stuck to simple colour palette of creams, golds & black which you can't really go wrong with, team all with thick black tights and festive red nails for a cute Christmas day outfit, the great thing is that several of the above could be found in your own wardrobe, cute flats,  a chunky knit or skater skirt? So hopefully this will of given you some inspiration or new ideas on how to wear them for Christmas day.


I plan on wearing, the above dress from InLovewithFashion.com with thick black tights, a black waist belt, ankle boots and a statement gold necklace. As I want to be dressed up yet comfy as although I'm spending the morning just me and the boy in our place together in the afternoon we are driving over to my parents for Christmas dinner with my brother, his wife and my niece so I need to be comfy enough to keep a very excitable 3 year old entertained all day!

What have you got planned for Christmas day and what will you be wearing?


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Beauty Works Red Carpet Ready Event

Apologies for the lack of regular posting recently with Christmas nearing closer (my excitement has reached childlike levels) it seems like every family member has either dropped by to catch up or invited us out for dinner - awful life isn't it! But all these dinner dates have mean't blogging has had to take a back seat. But I had to tell you about the great event I attended hosted by the lovely Adelle from Beauty Works on Thursday.

The event was primarily a Red Carpet ready gifting suite for celebrities, with the likes of Michelle Keegan, Kym Marsh & Brooke Vincent attending but the event was also open to fashion & beauty bloggers to come and experience the great brands.

The event held at the Great John Street Hotel, held host to a whole load of brands, including The Saturdays favourite clothing range Diva Sophia (they dressed the girls at Una's wedding), Luxury hair extension company Beauty Works, the perfect brow creators Ilah, skin care brand Glam Glow and the well known tanning company XEN-TAN.

I got to have a great look at the latest range from Diva Sophia and fell in love with several of the dresses and the cutest pair of turquoise tailored shorts.




 For many of you who read my blog you will know my obsession with my hair so the Beauty Works stand was a guilty pleasure for me, unfortunately they didn't have the shade to match my hair but their website is well worth a look for clip in fishtail plaits, buns and volume adding pieces, making bad hair days a thing of the past.


I was treated to an eyebrow shaping my the lovely ladies at Ilah and shown the perfect colour to shade my eyebrows in with, which is a daily ritual for me.


 I was really interested to learn more about Glam Glow which received praised from Fashion bible Elle but I hadn't heard of, its 2 step program promises to clear up skin imperfections and I can't wait to try it out. I also got to see the extensive tanning range from XEN-TAN another product I can't wait to try and review.



It was great to learn a little more about each of the brands and I was well and truly spoilt with eyebrow shapings and bulging goodie bags. I plan on putting together individual reviews about each of the products I received and treatments I had at the event in separate posts so check back for that.





 The very generous goodie bags.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Party Time

OUTFIT TWO: Shirt: House of Fraser £56, Shorts: H&M £20, Shoes: Wild Pair £36 - Similar in Primark

So the festivities are in full swing, the trees up in the office, the christmas songs are on the radio and the christmas party is booked, but if your anything like me the minute an event is in my diary my mind immediately skips through my wardrobe and the panic sets in of what to wear.

So I thought I'd save you the panic and help you out with some suggestions for what to wear to each milestone event this festive period. So heres the first one "What to Wear to The Work Christmas party" the work xmas do is a mine field in itself, dodging advances from that weird guy in accounts, trying not to embarrass yourself in front of your boss - ok maybe I watch to many crappy american TV programmes but you get the idea so heres some inspiration on what to wear for the occasion on my pretty Polyvore board - how have I only just discovered Polyvore?! Love this sight!

Outfit 1:
Although I don't plan for you to run out and buy every item from the above collage its more to give you an idea of this you could wear and how you could style it. The playsuit is available in an array of colours, one for every hair colour but I went with festive red and accessoried it with mute gold accessories. - Also if you add my exclusive Motel Code found at the side of my blog you can get 20% off it!
You could dress this down with tights, a leather jacket and boots and equally dress it up with pointed courts, a statement belt and/or necklace. Its a versatile piece that you can wear right through the holiday season right into the new year!

Outfit 2:
This outfit is those of you who's xmas parties are little more formal or the dress haters out there, both items can be worn again and again and are wardrobe staples. Theres some amazing shirts and shorts on the high street at the moment which means you can play with colours, embellishments and fit. Killer heels and collar tips mean you can add your own stamp on this ensemble and can be added if you have little time between work and party.

Outfit 3:
This is the dressiest of the options, I am in LOVE with this dress and its only £18!! I think this is a cute combo party dress and blazer, again theres so many different styles and colour ways you can try with this and change accordingly to flatter your figure, plus the blazer will keep you warm on the way home!

What I plan to wear:
I'm stuck between the two dresses below from warehouse with a statement necklace, heels and a clutch.
























I hope you found this helpful, check back from more "What to Wear" scenarios and let me know if theres a particular occasion you are struggling with what to wear.

Sunday, December 09, 2012

Wrapped up

So its my favourite time of your year and althought I could sit and write a post on what to buy your brothers, sisters, bestsfriends goldfish its already been done and pretty well by the vloggers out there so I decided to focus on another aspect of Christmas which I love - wrapping! I love the look of perfectly wrapped presents under the tree and I love choosing a theme or colour scheme each year (yes I just admitted to doing that) and making sure the wrapping is as good as whats inside!

So I thought I would do a little post on how I wrapped my presents this year to hopefully find other wrapping geeks out there and inspire those of you who aren't quite as enthusiastic as me!
The theme I picked this year is traditional, so think brown paper packages, red ribbon and fairisle print tissue paper.

I bought most of all of my wrapping this year from Marks and Spencers, this is what I bought:


      Luxury Ribbon Wrap Set - £4.50                       Santa Sleigh Print Wrapping Paper - £3.50


I also bought a 3 pack red and white patterned ribbon set, which I can't seem to find online, but I know is still in stores and can be seen in the below pictures, a further pack of tags, some brown paper and finally a pack of candy candy canes from Asda for £1.50 for 12 to create my wrapping masterpiece! Heres the result!










If you like the above look heres a few other bits and bobs you can get to add your own twist on this look:



Festive Tape and Wrap Set - £13                                  Christmas Ribbon Set - £5.99

Let me know if you liked this post and if this is something that interested you as I'm planning a few more festive posts in the lead up to Christmas so I can do another colour way or wrapping ideas or anything else your interested in!


Tuesday, December 04, 2012

1000 Kisses & Even More Disappointments







Theres some really great  lip products out at the moment and I've wanted to try the Clinique Chubby Sticks for sometime now, but when other brands such as Rimmel, Collection 2000 and Revlon brought out similar products the northern bargain bagger in me choose to not spend the £16 on the Clinique original instead opt for the Rimmel 1,000 kisses Lip Stain and Balm for only £5.99. Boots was having a 3 for 2 offer on at the time so I thought I'd made a pretty good saving.

I choose the colour Endless Blossom as its a pretty natural pink colour and great for everyday its also similar to the Clinique Bountiful Blush shade. Unlike the Clinique Chubby Stick which has the colour and balm in one, the Rimmel Version is split into two parts. The Lip stain tip, which went on easily and evenly and then the balm stick which when I used it for the first time it actually snapped clean off! Meaning I can no longer use the balm only the stain which dries out my lips, so pretty much a waste of money.

I was so disappointed with this product and I really wish I'd just bought the Clinique version as in this case you clearly get what you pay for, which is a shame as Rimmel products are normally pretty good.

Have you bought this product or any other beauty products you were disappointed in?

Sunday, December 02, 2012

In November...

Well its here!! Its actually December which means my festive induced excitement is actually allowed. Apologies for the lack of posts recently but as soon as it hits November I can't help but become childlike and not stop thinking about presents, wrapping and decorations so I've been slightly distracted that coupled with having guests over pretty much every weekend I've not had a chance to sit down and blog but heres a sneak peek at whats kept me away this month...
(apologies for the super long post!)

Remembered the 5th of November...
Me and the boy decided to take a trip to Wilmslow to watch the bonfire display and although its not a favourite night of mine, standing in the cold isn't my choice of way to pass the time, but the boy loves this night so I grinned and bared it and actually had a great time!




Had a change...
I decided that after 22 years of never dying my hair it was time for a change - this was not a easily made decision as I'm ridiculously precious over my hair after only 2 occasions of actually leaving the hairdressers happy rather than in tears. So I decided to ease myself into the process and opt for an ombre effect rather than an all over colour so I had some warm tones put throughout my hair and lightened the ends and a new fringe! I love the subtle effect and I plan to go lighter in the summer months - not a huge change I know but hey baby steps!




Went to an Event or Two...
This month was pretty busy with two blogger events to attend, the first was thrown by PopCouture.co.uk in London held at the Neo Barbican bar, it was small and intimate and perfect for their first event. They had amazing "PopStar" Martinis as refreshments and a great make up artist who tried out some daring glitter lips, smoky eyes and I even tried a black gloss lip - which I loved! Heres some snaps from the night and be sure to check out www.popcouture.co.uk as their party collection is amazing! Full outfit post coming soon.





The second blogger event was held closer to home in Manchester, thrown by DaisyStreet.co.uk to showcase their A/W collection and celebrate their first brand birthday. It was a great night at a cool venue and I got to meet some great bloggers some of whom I've read their blogs for ages and love! Plus  the personalised DaisyStreet.co.uk cupcakes were amazing! I wore my new sequin leggings which I love (also from DaisyStreet) and styled them similarly to this outfit here.






Had the Best Catch Up...
The last weekend in November had to be one of my favourite weekends of the year so far, one of my closest friends from back home came to visit and although I don't have hardly any photos of the weekend it definitely deserves a mention as it was so lovely to catch up - we literally didn't stop talking the whole weekend and as we don't live down the road from each other anymore so we made the most of it and attended a vintage clothing fayre, saw the Twilight film and generally spoke non stop and put the world to rights. I was tempted to hold her captitve when it was time to leave!

(me trying on a vintage headpiece)

(An oldie but goodie of the two of use - love this girl)