To the sea. . !

For me, it isn't Christmas without a little visit to the sea!

Especially when I have a new Canon 550 DSLR (yes, I believe, I may have already mentioned this . . !) to play with.

This is West Bay, folks, one of my favourite places ever. To be honest, the Canon seems to have romanticised and flattered this little piece of coastline a little. West Bay is amazing but for me, its strength lies not in its beauty but in it's character.

The wind and the waves are, more often then not, fierce. Whenever I'm at West Bay, I seem to find some perspective. Those waves have been rolling for thousands of years and probably will continue for thousands more. It reminds me how small we all are, in the 'big picture'. And before I get any deeper . . , it is also the perfect place to awaken my senses. Everything from the waves and wind to the surfers (So obviously crazy! It is late December and they are in that cold, cold water!!  *shakes head*) in the water is so alive! You almost catch energy as you stroll along the beach and stumble up the cliffs. Just what I needed to give me a great big kick out of that slovenly Post-Christmas slumber.

The important bit. . , the outfit!

 I played it quite casual with my outfit of the day. Maybe I was trying to channel a beachy feel.

I wore my new beaded vest from New Look layered over a generic black vest. I love this top, I only got it a couple of weeks ago after seeing it on Laura's blog (here!) but it is beautiful and perfect for layering (in fact, it is sheer so layering is a must). I think, it is actually my first Yellow top ever. Officially. At the time of buying, my size wasn't available online so I decided to go a size or so up and I think, it works really well baggy. I wore this vest over faded dark denim jeans.

Again, going for that effortless feel (or maybe, I really did just make little effort. Again . . , Christmas, exhaustion, excuses . . !), I then threw on my H&M Bow trench without the bow belt (I posted about this versatile coat here!) over the top with sketchers to combat the coastal path.
Sidenote: There seems to be good reason why H&M give you so many spare buttons with this little number!

Nothing in the outfit really matched or were made to compliment each other. Yet, I think it all came together quite well and I'm tempted in 2012 to be oh so daring and throw on more items without overthinking it. Who knows what the result will be and what style (or lack of) will emerge?!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and have an amazing New Year. Let me know what you've been up to in the comments!

X

Happy Christmas!!!!!!!

Image from We Heart It here.

Have a fantastic Christmas everyone and best wishes for 2012!

X

The Glam Miss Selfridge Maxi!

Now that I've completed a few more of my core Christmas prep chores (Christmas card writing, shopping, wrapping, more Christmas card writing, more shopping and consuming a Starbucks Christmas special), my mind is starting to wander back towards the trivia like er, what will I wear for this year's celebrations?

Christmas day is a bit more of a casual affair (and actually stumping me a little) but to welcome the New Year, well, I could just be adorning the Miss Selfridge Maxi that I've been meaning to post about for ages.

I think I have mentioned before, how sometimes I go to the wardrobe just to take a peek at this little number. Once (or twice . . .), I even give in, throw it on and have a twirl. This dress just feels very 'me' and is about as close to perfect as a dress can get.

These days, too often, it is easy to look overdressed. However, New Year is the one time when too much is never actually too much. Glam, glam all the way. Show the old year that it didn't get the better of the you and start the new year in the style that'll follow!

This dress is full of promise. In one way, it is a classic, a one shouldered maxi dress. On the other hand, there are some modern twists. The shorter length of the underskirt is a bit of a tease but the chiffon overskirt, complete with slits, maintains your innocence and modesty. This piece is glamorous and memorable. I love skirts that swirl but as a shortie, maxi skirts can be a bit scary and sometimes, look a bit busy on me. However, this one seems to lengthen my body and the two piece design of the skirt means there is still a little flesh on show and therefore, proof, that there is a human in the piece somewhere!

New Year tends to be full of black dresses and sparkly tops but the beautiful, classy midnight blue colour (Miss Selfridge say that it is navy, I'm not sure it is quite that dark) of this piece is a little more unique. A shade far enough from black to give the number a little twist but close enough to flatter and conceal the body in a similar manner as little black dresses do.
Sidenote: One thing I've learnt this year is that it doesn't ALWAYS have to be black. Navy and midnight blues actually seems to work with my colouring just as well. 2012 could be the year of the Blue!

I'm not quite sure yet how to style the piece. Given the nature of the piece and the occasion, heels obviously are a must and I think, a fair degree of arm candy will be required to give the one shouldered number a little balance. Finally bag-wise, I'm thinking clutch but should it be one that sparkles or for one night only, should I leave the sparkle to everybody else?!

As for scent, I'm thinking Very Irresistable from Givenchy. Typical, that it was one of the ones I used up when I started shopping my own collection. Maybe Santa will bring the new Intense version for Christmas. Ooh and while we're on perfume, I need to get the app from Roja Dove that the lovely Beauty Bible girls posted about!

Oh and just in case, you are wondering, this piece comes with a fantastic price tag of just £39.

Are you ready for the festivities? What will you be wearing? How should I style the blue dress? What should I wear for Christmas Day?

X

To be continued with . . !

Hey everyone!

This is a very quick post. I really don't like these posts and I, especially, hate writing them. Yep, it's the generic 'Sorry for the lack of posts. . .' post.

However . . ,

I really am sorry for the lack of posts recently. Christmas prep and work have sidetracked me a little and then Friday Evening, I had a horrible bug for all of about two hours but it's left me pretty washed out.
I'm hoping to get back on track over the next couple of days (once a very mammoth- it's actually tittering- pile of presents are wrapped)  and joining me in my blogging endeavour will be my new Canon 550 DSLR!!!

Yep, I finally got one and can't wait to have a proper play. I just know that the price will fall in the sales next month but I just think, I'll use it as much again over the two week Christmas period as I will during the rest of the year. I only wish I had purchased it in time for my nephew's Nativity last week, he was so cute and these little nativities are quite a neat starting point for Christmas festivities.

Hope your Christmas prep is going well, catch up soon. Any Canon or Christmas Prep tips?

X

Treats!

This post starts with a tee shirt so has the potential to be quite boring but lets face it, this is not any old tee shirt.

1/ Just in case you didn't notice (!), this tee shirt is full of sparkle and therefore, can add that little bit more to any old outfit from a pair of jeans to a maxi skirt. Also, as soon as you slip this sequined number over your head, bam, you're 'in fashion'!

2/ Unlike many fashionable pieces, this garment is easy and comfortable to wear. I have really struggled to find a sequined number for my wardrobe. I found a lot of the high street stores were selling very heavily sequined vests. When I tried these on, the thin little straps seemed useless under the weight of the sequins, giving very little support and the top would quickly lose all of its shape. This one keeps a flattering form when you put it on. The tee shirt form is obviously a factor here but equally important, is the fact that this tee shirt is not covered in back to back sequins. Although, there are probably hundreds on the top, you can see, when the top is hanging, gaps between the sequins. They are kind of sewn on in a spiral trail and the size of the sequins varies. This looks a little bit strange on the hanger (and did put me a little on the defensive!) but once on, the gaps are not as conspicuous and effortlessly become part of the design. This helps to lighten the load a little but I also love the fact that only the front of the top is sequinned. The surprise factor as you turn and what looks like a decent but bog standard black tee turns in to a full on sparkle fest (lightweight style) is genius!

3/ Finally, I have to mention that this top is not too expensive compared to many similar numbers that I have seen on the high street. This find is from Quiz, a shop that, over the last month or so, has really surprised me with a few gems. Remember the metallic tops?

The cropped jacket that I've paired it with here is the Top Shop cropped one that Laura has featured a few times. I've always regretted not grabbing this one when she first posted it but it was summer and like most of my wardrobe, black again. It was also quite expensive so I made that age old silly decision to think about it. Of course, once I made my decision, my size was sold out online and I trawled a few stores with no luck. I looked for similar versions in New Look et al but none of them had all the little details of this one, collarless, cropped, a satin trim. In short, this one is about as exciting as a jacket can get!

Reluctantly I was considering putting the newer Top Shop faux leather offering ( It has the same lovely shape but with a collar and a faux leather trim) on my Christmas wish list when I wandered aimlessly in to my local Top Shop (tiny!) and something caught my eye on the back of a rack. My dream jacket with the satin trim and yes, they were in my two Top Shop size possibilities. Yay! When one fitted, have no doubt, I was at the till point handing over my card just like that. I couldn't believe my luck, still can't! I'm sure within a couple of weeks, this lovely little jacket would have earned its price tag twice over.

This post ends with a treat (yes, I know, another one but it is nearly Christmas). Broken umbrellas, practically gale force winds and paddling through puddles everywhere has slowly got to me this last week and my visions of a romantic English winter (not sure where such cinematic ideas came from, I've lived through the reality enough times) with pretty little snowflakes falling and an air just chilly enough to justify that new super cute, cosy coat purchase have all been dispelled. Now obviously I know on a worldwide scale, I'm very lucky with the weather. I haven't lost my home, I have water and all of these things that I take for granted but miserable weather still has the potential to make you feel a bit blah. What can I say, it's biology, psychology or something. However, the Hot Butter Fudge Sugar Body Polish from N-Spa has really brightened my evenings a little. It has enough chunky flakes to really smooth the skin but there is also just the right amount of jelly mixed in to soften the exfoliation and keep everything gentle. Now, I'm not always a big fan of food scents (particularly fruity ones) but this hot butter fudge offering is divine. It is so warming and soothing. I can not recommend this one enough especially since, I brought it in Asda for just four pounds.

Oh and did I say this post was ending?! Well, not without a little boast. I can now (and have ran several times, thanks to the Get Running App) run solidly for 25 minutes straight. Not much but I am so ridiculously proud of myself and have to play Drake and Nicki Minaji, Make Me Proud on the way home. This performance is so frigging adorable.

I hope you're all doing ok. A big hello *waves, jumping up and down* to my new followers and commenters. Just a few more until we hit the GFC 50 followers (so go follow now) and then there will be a giveaway and eek, I think, I know what I want the giveaway prize to be ; )

What sequined tops are you flaunting? What beauty treats can you recommend to brighten the mood a little?

X

My HD Brows!

So I mentioned that I went HD with my brows last week. As those of you following me on Twitter will know, I was very excited about the treatment. HD Brows is a relatively new Brow treatment 'that puts celebrity beauty within everybody's reach.' and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard that one of my local beauty salons were introducing it to their menu of services.

HD Brows is a very through brow grooming treatment which consists of 7 steps including waxing, threading and tinting to give you your own unique ideal brow. Apparently no two HD brows are the same even the two on your face. It seems a good pair of brows should not be symmetrical and identical like twins but more like sisters!

The HD Brow is not about giving us all some mythical perfect brow but giving you your own ideal brow, one suited to your individual features such as hair colour and face shape. HD Brows claim that their treatment is not just shaping and tidying but eyebrow artistry. Many celebrities have had the HD Brow treatment including Michelle Keegan, Katie Price, Kylie Minogue, Danni Minogue and Jenny Frost.

So what about my new brows?

Well, it has taken me a few days to post about them because to start with I wasn't quite sure how I felt about them. There was no doubt after the treatment, that they were defined and I found my eyes were drawn straight to them. So much so, that in fact, maybe they were slightly too much.

You see since a very bad overplucking incident years ago, I very rarely do much with my brows. I normally get them shaped three or four times a year and just tweeze or wax inbetween very occasionally myself. Basically, hands up, I'm rubbish with my brows and very rarely even fill them in. A lick of vaseline is about as far as it goes on a daily basis.

So obviously after the in depth HD treatment, it was a bit of my shock to see just how defined and striking my brows could actually be.

This is my eyebrows just before the treatment.

This is my eyebrows a couple of days later.

Now I love the way my eyebrows look in the last picture. They look so neat and natural. This picture was took a couple of days after the treatment when all the make up that the beautician has added to the brows was gone. This one below is how they looked made up, not so much me.

Thank goodness, the make up was washed away. This is how my brows look now. Tidy and groomed. Nothing more.

I did not want a pair of brows which defined my attitude. All I wanted was a nice pair of brows and yes, the HD process and all it's preening certainly stepped up to the mark in this respect. However, all the defining with the make up on top of the tint was too much for me and I was glad to wash it away.

For me, the highlights of the HD treatment were . . .

a) The tint

My hair is naturally mid to dark brown and sometimes I feel when my hair is down, my eyebrows almost look a little too blonde and occasionally lost or even worse, sometimes they appear a little green. This really wasn't doing anything for the groomed look, I aspire to. The HD tint has certainly given my brows stronger colour but they still appear soft and yes, human or at least until the make up is applied on top . . !

b) The depth of the treatment

Your eyebrows aren't just waxed or tweezed or threaded or trimmed. Instead all methods are employed to banish any pesky unwanted hair from the eye area so that the eyebrow is defined to its potential. I love the fact that my eye area is so much cleaner looking and I'm already finding it a little more flattering when blending colours slightly higher above my lid and around the contour line. My eye make up in general, looks much better now that the skin all around the eye is so much smoother.

Although, please note, it is quite scary when the therapist is threading and asks you to put a hand over your lashes to stop her mistakenly whipping them up. That really would be a disaster!!!

Now many people may say that you can get a good shape and tint for half the price of one HD treatment (the price of my treatment was £35). However, you do not get the same depth of treatment. I really feel as if my brows and the surrounding area has been given a very good going over and that all baddies have been eliminated. I really do feel as if only, the bare minimum maintenance (basically my once a month 'tweezing the odd hair or two' session) will be required for the next six months or so. I'm not sure you could get such a pain free (I wouldn't want my eyelids waxed!) or clean look whilst only employing one method to shape.

For me, the downer (just one!) of the treatment was the make up at the end. It was way too much for me but I guess, this is personal choice and in this case, I'm like those of you who want to go straight home to wash your hair after a salon blow dry.

I think I would recommend this treatment at £35 (apparently a lot of salons charge £40+) if you can afford to spend that on your brows. After all, at the very least, this treatment shows you just what your brows are capable of.

In other news, I've been exploring my new Yankee candle collection a little further and I've found that I really like the sweeter candles ie. Sparkling Sugar and the Mistletoe and Fig one. Lovely!

Do you have HD brows? Is it something you would consider, what are your brow grooming habits? Any more Yankee recommendations?

X

Sunday Choice 1: Hair Inspiration

So still in Hair monotony mode, I am contemplating a little visit to the hairdressers before Christmas. Many of you will know that for me, a visit to the hairdressers is a very scary idea. I've been surfing the web to find the best pictures to bombard my stylist with even though all I really want is my ends grazed with the scissors and the side layers tidied. After all, isn't it all about safety in the number of pictures when you go to the salon?!


Scrolling through the Best Hairstyles and Trends 2011 from Glamour Magazine, I have found so much hair inspiration.

Ideally, this is how I would like the cut of my natural hair (as it is now) to fall. Lily Cole's hair looks so soft, healthy and tidy although with a little backcombing or lack of care, I'd imagine it could play bedhead easily. She looks groomed but she doesn't look old. I love how healthy the ends of her hair look. Although I'm not sure I could pull off red hair, I do love the fact that her style uses one solid colour. Whenever I have highlights etc, it looks great for about a week but after that it seems too contrived.

This is a similar look to Lily's. However, I think this is closer to how mine may fall due to the layers at the side.

Olivia Wilde is always so polished and her hair is no exception. Every time I see a picture of her long bob, I think what a beautiful cut she flaunts. Unfortunately, it is probably slightly too short then I dare to wear but this remains a style that I swoon over in the same way I do when I catch sight of the Miu Miu Bow bag or a beautiful dress.

I have not had a full on fringe for years. I've always loved how they look and the way they draw attention to your eyes. However, stylists have always advised against them because of the wretched cow licks that lie on my hairline. I still want one though and isn't that what straighteners are for? As Nicole shows a full on fringe is the perfect accessory to a simple high ponytail (FYI: my favourite updo ever) and adds instant pizazz to any hair look.

When my natural hair is a little longer, this is what I would like it to look like. In reality, I'm pretty sure that these slightly tousled locks are high, high maintenance. Leighton seems to have balanced some softening flyaways with styled locks. I would never be able to pull off the balance behind the two. Her ombre colour is also so rich and well blended. I adore this but I would imagine that this cut, colour and look requires one very exceptional stylist!

Still there is something about tousled long locks that I aspire to and I also like the look on this Burberry model and the way the waves start effortlessly halfway down her hairline. Modern mermaid chic!

Now this one, I won't be showing the hairdresser. My face isn't sweet enough but this hair look is so futuristic and eye catching yet almost too cute to scream statement.

Who is your hair inspiration? What pictures do you take to the hairdresser? Which of these styles are your favourite? Can you think of any other hair looks I should consider? I love all of your comments. Who knows maybe one of you will find me a dream style that I can actually attain?!

Don't forget, you can now follow me on Pinterest here or click on the button in my sidebar.

I'd also love to have a Christmas/New Year giveaway and if I get to 50 GFC followers on this blog, I will do it! So if you haven't already then it would mean the world to me if you went and clicked the Follow button in my sidebar.

Happy Sunday :)

X

The Metallic Tops from Quiz!

Remember how last week, shopping wasn't happening. Well, this week it has been on the up a little again. Yay!

I went back to Quiz to try on the metallic scalloped vest again. This time I decided that it does in fact fit me but is just very low cut at the front which isn't really my thing but the top is just so gorgeous so could be worth venturing out of my comfort zone for and at the very least, I know that I will get my moneys worth  layering this one up. Note: When you walk in to Quiz, you realise how expensive some of the other bigger high street chains are.

It looks such a simple little vest but when you think about the design carefully. You can see how bang 'on trend' it is right now.

It is metallic (but without hundreds and thousands of itchy, heavy sequins) with almost snakeskin effect scalloping. The edges are also scalloped. Blimey, I could almost be in "fashion" with this one yet none of this detailing shouts at you and when all these trends are all but a distant memory then this top (if it lasts a wash or two) will, indeed, still be a very pretty top and wearable.

So, given that, it makes sense to grab anything similar. Which, of course, I did and here is the Tee Shirt version.

I'm hoping that the bulge is a belt or something and not my stomach!

I like this one. A lot. I feel a bit safer wearing it. The high neck saves my modesty and this one can be thrown on with little thought for a similar bang on trend, fashionista result.

In other news, I got my HD brows done last night. I was very excited about them and the definition my new brows has is quite striking. In fact, all made up last night, the strength of them was quite overwhelming but I think once I get used to them, they will become my own and I will love the structure and polish they add to my face. My favourite thing so far is just how much cleaner the entire eye area looks.

Will you be notching up the metallic factor as Christmas approaches? What brow look do you go for? Have a good weekend!

X