Gifts for Girls

Hello all, it's nearly the first of December, eeek! If you're anything like me, you're itching to start the Christmas celebrations without people telling you 'It's too early.' I can understand that for some people, the tradition of gift giving becomes such a stressful event that it ends up detracting away from the actual celebration. Well, you need not worry, for on it's way is a selection of hand picked gifts for all those awkward buggers who you can't buy for!

MAC Lipstick or Makeup in General
First up, any girl or woman will appreciate a good Mac lipstick but often knowing what shade to get deters you from picking one up. Well, fear not. After a little research I have come to the conclusion that of all the Mac Lipsticks; Cherish, Kinda Sexy and Velvet Teddy are the three colours that are most likely to suit all skin tones. They're also very wearable shades that your loved one can wear for almost any occasion. Of course, if they're partial to a red lip or two, you may go for the likes of Ruby Woo or Russian Red. Either way, lipstick is a great gift idea.

Bunny Slippers or regular (boring) Slippers 
Okay I know this always comes across as a boring present but I really think it's a nice gift to give. You may know that your loved one is a whimsical elf and would find slippers with bunny ears hilarious, in which case look no further! Although, generally any woman of any age would find practical use out of a pair of slippers. Plus, they aren't on the expensive side (depending on where you go) if the gift is for an acquaintance.

Gloves or woollen accessories 
Just like slippers, gloves are an easy purchase that will please just about any personality. You can even earn extra points for going out of your way to find a pair that match their favourite coat etcetera etcetera...

Clutch Bags , Purses or Bags 
Now I often find people shy away from this sort of gift as it does involve a great deal of personal choice for these items. However, when you have a clutch bag as detailed and as intricate as this one, they become the sort of item your loved one may never splash out on themselves. I often like to buy gifts that may be too expensive to warrant them buying, but will be something they've always liked. Clutch bags, purses or regular bags make great gifts and when boxed up, make a gorgeous present to unwrap.

Perfume 
Perfume is, in my opinion, one of the best gifts you can buy a woman. Generally, most women have a scent that is favourite. For example, Christina Aguilera By Night is as much a part of me as an arm or a leg. However, that doesn't mean I wont ever wear another fragrance and most people are likely to be the same. A lovely fragrance to try is Diesel Loverdose Tattoo. It comes in a gorgeous bottle and has a lovely clean, distinctive scent.

Other gifts to consider are books, underwear sets (providing you know their size), house decorations or even decorations for their Christmas tree. The thing to keep in mind is that gifts are not meant to be super expensive, they are supposed to show that you have thought about that person and what they may like. They aren't what Christmas is allll about and remind yourself of this when you're getting stressed about gifts! Plus, if I can give any advice it's to buy gifts early. The earlier the better as by the time Christmas comes around, you're away from all the busy shops and free to sit in with a cup of tea and a festive film.

What do you think of my gift ideas? Are you all sorted for Christmas? Let me know in the comments below. As always thank you for reading!

Laura. 

The Art of Powerdressing

Hello all, I'm back again! This time around it's with a style post discussing my new favourite trend; power dressing. Power dressing isn't something that has just popped up, it's been around for some time. that said it's only recently popped on my radar due to the gorgeous Cheryl Fernandez-Versini sporting her gorgeous white tux dress for the new series of The X-Factor.

For anyone who isn't familiar with the trend, powerdressing is referred to as "a fashion style that enables women to establish their authority in a professional and political environment traditionally dominated by men" (Wikipedia). We're talking about clean cut lines, smart suit jackets, ties and the like. Whether you're actually walking into an office or not, everyone should experience the confidence boost power dressing gives you once in a while. 

To really nail this trend you need two things; Simplicity and clean cut lines. The simpler your outfit is, the better you nail the trend. All the outfits pictured above are all very clean, unfussy (if that's a word) and use structured fabrics. 

For me, Cheryl's outfit was all the motivation I needed to give it a go myself. I've got a lot of events coming up and wanted something that feels a little more special than the usual dresses I go for. I'm trying to push myself in what I wear by going for things I wouldn't usually wear. This is one example but I think paired with some barely there heels and a fierce, sleek ponytail will be the ultimate power dressing combo. It took me around thirty seconds to decide that I needed this dress in my life and as we speak it's on it's way to me. I can't wait to wear it and, of course, will update you with outfit photos ASAP. 

What do you think of power dressing and is it a trend you'll be trying out? Let me know in the comments below. And as always, thanks for reading!

Laura.

Winter Wants

Good afternoon lovely readers, I'm back with a repeat of last years post with my winter wants! I love doing posts like these because they give me a good excuse to have a good old nose around websites looking for fierce party outfits. If you're anything like me, you'll find that around this time of year, your social calendar becomes busier than ever. I personally cannot wait to get my claws into the festivities and wearing the perfect outfit only makes it better.

For me, November and December always make me think of very elaborate and over the top clothes. I'm talking black lace dresses, fur coats, clutch bags adorned with sequins and burgundy on just about everything. It's not often you can go overboard on clothes because you can end up looking out of place, so when I finally get a good excuse to, I need no further motivation to get myself out there. If you want to see this years picks, keep reading!

Black Contrast Snake Print Heels £24.99
Lets start this with a bang shall we? Heels, Heels, Heels. I am an absolute lover of black strappy heels and with the mixed textures on this pair, I figured they were a nice alternative to plain black. Simple black heels and clutches often look best with the outfits I'm about to talk about as you have so much detail elsewhere. I also love New Look for their heels, they aren't very expensive but they are hard wearing and long lasting. Double points!

Closet Black Jacquard skirt Dress £60.00
Okay so I guess this isn't the most elaborate dress to start the clothes off with but I do think it's super cute. Pair this with a voluminous ponytail and a smoky eye and you have an outfit that is on point. I also think dresses like these are great if you're not sure if the dress code is dressy or casual because depending on your surroundings it can morph into either.

AX Paris Silver Abstract Dress £45.00
Now this one is the show stopper which unfortunately doesn't come across well in the photo I've provided (my apologies). I do however recommend you click the link above to see it's full potential as the zoom feature on New Look's website really makes you appreciate it's detail. It is on the higher price range for me at forty five, but the level of detail makes it an investment. Plus, as it's metallic you can be sure that it will be in trend most winters.

Lana Metallic Frame Clutch Bag £29.00
Metallic is really a no brainer and as I mentioned before, this will be something that is always on trend. Clutch bags like this one are better matched to plainer outfits that need a little va va vooom. Team with some cute strappy gold heels and you have the perfect team to knock out the competition.

Black Lace Long Sleeve Crop Top £17.99
Save the best till last and here it is. This crop top is possibly the most beautiful thing to come out of New Look stores.... ever! I'd team it with a plain midi skirt and perhaps a coloured clutch and heel combo bring in some colour and you have yourself a gorgeous outfit. I do believe that a similar top is on the missguided website for twenty two pounds. However, I had a realisation earlier that around seventy five percent of the clothes I buy from Missguided end up being sent back. I'm not sure whether it's me but I feel like the quality is always really poor and a dress that looks gorgeous in pictures comes across cheap in person. Sorry Missguided but we've fallen out!

So what do you think of my little collection? I do, on hindsight, think it needed a little colour injection. I've spotted a lot of burgundy (no surprise there) on the market but also a lot of teal. I think deep rich colours are perfect for the season and make you feel a million bucks. I'm actually awaiting quite a few outfits in the post (naughty Laura is spending again) and I cannot wait to wear them out.

What are your plans for this season? Let me know in the comments below! As always, thank you so much for reading. Lots of love,

Laura. 

Monthly Diary November

Hello all, back again with my monthly diary post and I must say there's lots to include in this post. So as you may have noticed, I've been a little MIA from my blog for a couple of months now. As you may have read earlier, in the beginning of October I was made redundant from my job. All the members of staff were also made redundant and in all honestly, I didn't take it well. I had finished university and started working there as a stop gap job, trying to decide what to do next. For example, I'd been thinking about continuing my education via a masters but obviously, masters take time and money and so not something to be decided in a hurry.

After a few months of thinking about it, I decided against doing a masters but decided to stay where I was anyway until I found out my next move. Back in March, I'd been hearing lots of good things about Learning Support Assistants (LSA) in schools and thought it sounded like I job I could really love. After doing some research, to my dismay I discovered that in order to retrain, I would have to undergo an expensive course and unpaid work experience which meant no money coming in. For this reason, I couldn't take the leap and so I stayed where I was.

If things would have carried on the same, I probably would have got on fine but always wondered, what if. Then, on the third of August, we were told that the shop was closing down and that we would be out of work as of the seventh of October. This hit me harder than most as I still hadn't figured out what I wanted to do and whilst they did offer jobs elsewhere in the company, I knew it wasn't what I wanted.

Around this time, I started suffering with bouts of anxiety and panic attacks and honestly it was possibly the worst month I've experienced. For a time it looked as though I may work as a dental nurse as Id been offered a position at my local dentist. However, the more and more I looked into it, the more I felt that it wasn't the right move for me. So, with no security of a job further down the line, I turned down the dental nursing job. It was a scary move knowing I could be out of work for a long time but following my gut felt like the right thing to do.

Following the shops closure, I had one week before my Lanzarote holiday and honestly it was the one thing getting me through. And thankfully, it was exactly the restful week I'd hoped for (so thank you to my lovely boyfriend for being there for me.) Now that I was out of work, it seemed to me there was no good reason to put off becoming an LSA and so I organised a weeks work experience in a school to check that it was still what I wanted, before paying for an expensive course.

It was in this school that I discovered that the one thing I should have been doing had been right in front of me all along. The school itself is an outstanding example of how education should be and they could not have made me feel more welcome. But, it gets better. On my second day into school, I was approached by one of the senior staff and asked if I would be interested in working there as an LSA starting in January. As you can imagine, I nearly scared her to death with how quickly I answered yes.

And so, following one of the worst months of my life, I have come out the other side with a job in place after Christmas and two months off to get my head in the right place. There is a famous saying of "when one door closes, another opens" and it could not be more true in this case. I cannot believe my luck and I am so grateful to the school for seeing something in me. I will add that I wont be discussing the school or anything to do with it in my later posts as I feel it would be inappropriate, but I hope you understand. If you feel you're in a bad place, just remember you never know what is around the corner but, as always, thank you for reading and lots of love,

Laura. 

Workwear Wants

Good afternoon all, I’m back again and this time I’ve created a mood board of sorts. I’ve recently landed myself a new job (more on that in my monthly diary) and as my old job had a uniform, I’ve found myself fresh out of work appropriate clothes. So, you can imagine my delight when I have a legitimate reason to go and buy a load of clothes. I don’t know about any of you, but I sometimes find when I go shopping, I go into a bit of a shopping frenzy and end up coming away with things I didn’t need nor want. So in an attempt to keep myself on track, I’ve created a mood board of some of the clothes I already like, so I have an idea of the clothes I need to go for.

New Look Pale Grey Satin Wrap Front Sleeve Top £14.99

This simple little top could be thrown on with some nice trousers or even the lovely skirt included in this post. It’s having little items like this that really work hard in your wardrobe as they go with everything.

Oasis Bonnie Workwear Dress £55.00

I am actually a little in love with this dress. So much so that I’m going to ignore the fact that it’s probably a little too smart for my future place of work but I just can’t help myself. Also, the waist tie design leads me to believe it will flatter when on.

Oasis Crepe Peplum Top £30.00

I am always going to be a fan of peplum tops. They flatter all shapes, hide your post meal tum and look feminine. This one caught my eye because of its beautiful teal colour and how it tapers longer at the back. Id wear with fitted black trousers for a elegant and simple outfit.

Warehouse Belted Trouser £40.00

I think that a quality pair of well-fitting trousers are number one on my wish list as you can’t wear any smart tops without them. These belted trousers from warehouse look like they could be really lovely quality and so a definite investment.

New Look Long Sleeve Pussy Bow Blouse £17.99

As with polo tops, chiffon blouses are perfect staples for work and can be carried through the seasons with an addition of a nice smart coat. I’d wear this lovely number with some smart work trousers and heels. Check out the link to see the other lovely colours available.

Oasis Stripe Hattie Dress £55.00

This dress caught my eye for functionality more than anything else. If you’re in a rush or can’t be motivated to put a whole outfit together, a dress is the perfect pick. All you have to worry about is tights and shoes and you’re done. Plus, I often alternate between a burgundy and tan coat so this dress would easily go with either one. 

Warehouse Ribbed Polo £35.00

 I think polo tops and jumpers have been a staple in workwear wardrobes for years and not a fixture I can see moving any time soon. I love the ribbed effect on this top, although I do think £35 is a little steep for this kind of top. You may find cheaper alternatives in the likes of Primark or New Look which may make your money go that little bit further.

So now that you have seen my workwear mood board, what do you think? It may be that I don’t buy any of these clothes, or I may buy them all. But safe to say that I have given myself much inspiration to go out and get shopping! Perhaps your in the same job but you need a new wardrobe to perk yourself up a bit, if so let me know in the comments below! Thank you as always for reading,

Laura. 

Bh cosmetics Galaxy Chic Palette

Hello my lovely readers, it's nearly halloweeeennnnn! I am far too excited considering I have zero plans in place as of yet. All these events have been getting me in the autumnal mood and so I've been pulling out all my palettes and trying out new autumn inspired make up looks. Of all the make up I bought, this palette was the one I was most excited to get my hands on and I figured that now I've had a play around with it, I could review it for you all.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this palette is so unbelievably unique it drew me like a magnet. I'm not usually one for bright colours as I don't find them all that wearable but it was too cute to resist. The eye shadows are all named after planets, moons, Greek Gods or celestial bodies (not sure if that's the right title but the one I'm going with.)

My first impression from this palette is that the size of the eyeshadow was so much larger than the pictures on the website suggest. I had the impression each colour was around the size of a one pence coin. In reality, it's closer to a twenty or even ten pence coin. I didn't think to do a comparison picture between the two so you will have to take my word for it but you can trust me! Secondly, the pictures represent the colours very well and all look the same in person as they do in photographs so no nasty surprises there either.

My absolute favourite colours in this palette are Sun, Aphrodite and Comet as of all the colours, they are the ones I've found to be msot versatile. The blue toned shadows have been the least used if I'm honest. As I have blue eyes myself, the beauty rule of not wearing the same eyeshadow/eyecolour combo is one I abide to as I just don't think they do my eyes justice. However, the quality of all of the colours is, as with most Bh products, of a very high standard. Not a lot of product is needed to build up a bright, pigmented colour.

As for the price, in the sale it was only $12 in the sale but usually around $20 plus postage to the UK. I have found that as the colours are so bright and pigmented, I haven't reached for this palette any where near as much as I have the Carli palette (see last post). As it happens, for the sale price this really doesn't matter to me as I have it for when I need it. Would I still have bought it at full price? I'm not sure however, it is still on sale if you want to pick it up for yourself from here.

So overall, it is a fantastic palette but perhaps one you will be reaching for every now and then rather than everyday. It's good quality and excellent value at it's sale price. Overall, I am very happy with it and can't wait to see what looks I come up with next. Lots of love,

Laura. 

Carli Bybel Eyeshadow Palette

Hello all! Long time no see as per usual. I think we could probably all agree that none of us have enough time for our hobbies. I know I don't. Moaning aside, us beauty bloggers love finding those products that do what they say on the tin. They don't come across all too often, so it's all the more special when they do.

Now I have to admit that I have been a fan of Carli Bybel for a long time now, which could mean I'm a little biased. If anything, it made me put her palette under more scrutiny than any other I've reviewed because I think so highly of her. It is for that reason that I am so pleased to say that I lovee this palette. And here's why...

First of all, I loved the overall look and presentation. In one of Carli's videos, she talked about the fact that none of the palettes she owned were white and neither are mine. Plain, simple and understated. As for the range of colours, we're not talking about crazy bright colours, but simple wearable everyday shades. For me, those are the palettes I reach for the most and so the ones I'm most likely to spend my money on.

So let's talk about what your money gets you. For your buck you get ten eye shadows ranging from a shimmery white to a matte burgundy and four highlighters to suit all skin tones. So far, I've used this palette every day since I spent a frustrating three hours trying to buy it and haven't come across the same look twice.

Honestly, never have I been so blown away by the quality of a palette. The shadows are pigmented and blend like a dream. Don't even get me started on the highlighters! The picture above shows just one of the looks you can recreate with the Carli palette (She does a step by step video on this look here). Now, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Well, the good news is that this palette is currently selling on the BH Cosmetics Website here for an unbelievable $12.50, or just £8.16 if you're from the UK. That is an unrealistically amazing price for the quality.

As for the bad news, this is an absolutely amazing deal but everyone else knows this too so others have snapped up the offer and it's currently sold out. However, do not fear, she has reassured us that it will be back in stock but until then you'll be playing the waiting game with a couple thousand of Carli's viewers. In the mean time, I'll be here reviewing some more of the BH palettes I showed you in my haul so stay tuned. As always, much love!

Laura.