April Purchases: Essie Nail Polish, Kiehl’s & Liz Earle

Evening everyone!…Anyone?!

Here’s a round up of my favourite purchases so far this month. I say so far like I’ve got any money left to buy anything else.

Currently most of my money is sat somewhere at ASOS and has been for the last 2 weeks, they’re really pushing the limit on their returns this month!

Mostly this month I’ve been buying nail varnishes. I’ve not really had any nails for years, so after 6 months of wearing fake ones in an attempt to grow them, I’ve finally got some little tiny nails which haven’t seen the sun for months and keep breaking. But I’m not going to let that deter me. One day I will have beautifully manicured nails that are real. One day.

So on that note, first purchase. Essie nail varnishes. Good enough branding and ‘fashionable’ enough, but not overly expensive.

 

Essie Spring 2013 Nail Polish

Nail Polishes by Essie

The one in the middle is a pretty nude, which is very ‘in’ this season (Not just a pretty face). The green (Stylenomics) which looks amazing in the bottle is a bit too dark for me – ends up looking just a bit like grubby black spinach colour which is a shame. The reddy-brown (Angora Cardi) goes a bit browner than it looks but is still pretty nice. All in all though, I’m still mainly wearing my favourite orangey pinkey red: Chubby Cheeks.

 

Liz Earle Moisturiser Kiehls Toner

Kiehl’s Herbal-Extract Toner, Liz Earle Moisturiser & Serum

I thought I’d grab some new skin-care stuff when I got a voucher for John Lewis for Christmas. Took me forever to order something – and eventually I went for this Liz Earle Moisturiser and Wrinkle Serum as it isn’t super expensive but had great reviews on JL.

I’ve been really impressed with the moisturiser – I was previously using Kiehl’s Ultra-Facial but at £50 wasn’t 100% sold. This is a lot cheaper, feels really buttery on application and most importantly doesn’t give me spots!

I’m not really sure about the wrinkle stuff yet. Maybe because I don’t have *that* many wrinkles and I’m just being neurotic ;)

 

Warehouse Leather Bow Belt 018

Warehouse Brown Leather Bow Belt

Finally, I got a new belt from Warehouse. I’ve been on the lookout for something like this for ages – a belt that’s actually meant to be worn round your waist with a dress so you don’t have to hide any garish belt buckles round the back of your cardi!

This is nice, neutral and girly. Now I just need to watch how much cake I eat so it continues to fit. As ever, high street sizing continues to have the same continuity as the British summer.

New hairstyle: Bangs and a kind of bob

Bob with fringe hairstyle blog

 

Yes that’s right, I’ve got the same haircut that I had when I was 13! And I actually like it this time!

I had a lovely week of pampering last week. I had my first ever facial at the Treatment Rooms in Brighton, and then decided to book myself in for a long needed haircut at Mooch. Don’t let their website put you off.. It’s a great, friendly salon and their prices aren’t extortionate like the Trevor Sorbies and Headmasters of the Brighton world! My only gripe would be the £6 they charge for a 2 minute fringe trim. A lot of other places do it for free – and because of this I do it to myself for free too, albeit taking 5 attempts and an hour to get it straight.

My facial was not really what I was expecting. I figured I would get the aromatherapy oils and the weird music, but what I was not prepared for was the insanely painful skin squeezing known as ‘extraction’ half way through. Serves me bloody right not to even read up on what was going to happen to me! I left feeling a little ‘meh’ as I was really tense the entire time, but then I noticed how smooth my skin is. And now I’m in love.

But I did do some further reading, and apparently extraction is really bad long-term for the collagen around your pores. So maybe it’s something best saved for when my skin really does feel like sandpaper.

Five Bomber & Biker Jackets for Spring

I don’t think I can remember when there last was this many jackets I wanted, all at one time. Sure – I am looking at some more expensive shops, and my style is perhaps a little more grown up, but there’s so many styles, fabrics, prints and looks that I really, really want. My bank balance doesn’t though. Sad.

Here’s five of my favourites:

JaegerBiker

Jaeger // £299

RagBoneJacket

Rag & Bone // £670

PaulJoeBomber

Paul & Joe // £120

FCJacket

French Connection // £125

ZaraPrintedBomber

Zara // £69.99

A Perfume for Spring: Marc Jacobs ‘Oh, Lola!’

Oh Lola Marc Jacobs Perfume Bottle

I’ve always been a signature scent type of person. I think I’ve only owned 5 perfumes my entire life (bar the Charlie Red body sprays when I was in my tweens!). First came Dior Addict – which is probably still my all time favourite. Then, I went through the Britney Spears stage; I’m pretty sure I just liked the turquoise bottle with the pink squirter, and I wasn’t suprised when the actual liquid turned green and mouldy after a few months.

Recently, I decided to branch out and bought, wait for it, Dior Addict 2. I felt ever so adventurous!

So this spring, I have decided I am going to try out a few different scents. My newest purchase is pictured above. While it’s not the coveted Dot Eau de Toilette, the Sunsheer edition of ‘Oh, Lola!’ by Marc Jacobs appealed to me both via it’s gloriously fresh scent and fun, quirky bottle.

It’s not the cheapest bottle of perfume, with 50ml coming in at £47 from Boots, but then that’s not the most expensive either. The scent, as described by Marc:

“The fragrance opens with a sheer refreshing top of effervescent raspberry that blossoms into a feminine pink heart of lush peonies. Addictive vanilla imparts a sensual dry down with a flirty, light-hearted touch.”

Whatever that means. I like the smell. It’s not obnoxious, not too flowery and has a little zesty kick to it. And it has a super cool pink flower top, so that’s extra points in my book!

Now – what perfume should I buy next?!

Passion for Fashion Competition

I saw this competition advertised on one of my favourite UK fashion blogs: Littlebirdfashion.com and thought it looked really good fun. It’s my first one of these, so be gentle. One added bonus too – I think it might have cured me of my need to spend all my wages on clothes on payday! I am now well and truly shopped out. I think in total it probably took about 2 hours.

The premise is, to enter you need to choose an outfit (on trend) for 3 scenarios: casual, holiday and party. It has to be under £200 and showcased.

Casual

Casual MS Look

Cobalt Flats // Blush Inc
Jumper // Dorothy Perkins
Shirt // Zara
Jeans // Jigsaw
Necklace // ASOS
Pinky Ring // ASOS
Nail Varnish // Essie
Bowler Bag // H&M

This one is a play on the ever popular ‘cobalt’ colour. The pointed flats are American so I added a bit to the price to account for shipping – I love the colour and I don’t think it’s too much blue; sometimes when I see the jeans or pencil skirts in cobalt I think it edges towards looking tacky. I found the £20 jumper on DP and for the price it looks amazing – I’m totally gonna go into the shop tomorrow and check it out. I’m also really into these little pinky rings at the moment and slightly edgy necklaces.

I was going to pair the jumper with a Celia Birtwell x Uniqlo shirt but by the time I went to the site they had sold out! No rest for the (print) wicked eh!

Party

Party MS Look

Dress // French Connection
Clutch // Coast
Shoes // New Look

This one I decided to keep simple. As the items themselves are quite colourful and busy, I decided against jewellery – nude make up would also be a must, perhaps with a fuchsia lippy! There’s nothing like a really nicely made, well cut French Connection dress, and I’m loving the slightly unique take on monochrome. I decided to do 2 trends in one and found this cute floral clutch at Coast. It’s quite loud but I decided to have a go at print clashing – what do you think? I don’t go to that many posh parties, so I don’t have much necessity for bags like this as I tend to take the kitchen sink with me wherever I go, but this bright and colourful handheld would definitely be top of my wish-list. I also like how it pulls out the jewel-fuschia tones of the New Look shoes. New Look still never disappoint when looking for cheap mega-heels!

Holiday

Holiday Look

Bandeau Bikini // Urban Outfitters
Maxi Skirt // New Look
Sheer Black T-shirt // Mango
Statement Necklace // Accessorize
Sunglasses // M&S
Sandals // Steve Madden
Nail Varnish // Essie

This is a take on the aztec & khaki trends which still seem to be floating about. It’s all fairly straight forward – I’m still loving the retro high-waisted bikinis and these sunglasses from M&S look almost identical to my trustworthy pair of torty Raybans. These type of sandal I am seeing everywhere, but I particularly like the little bit of molten metallic strap work which makes them a little more interesting.

I also saw this great bandeau swimsuit on Pinterest several times over the last month, but could I find it today when I wanted it? No way.

So what do you think? Any bits you particularly like or hate?

For more information on the competition you can see here