Bonjour ou Au Revoir?

credit: pinterest

Hi everyone, just a little note to say I'm going to be away from blogging for the next week or so as I'm off on holiday tomorrow to the South of France. My nails are painted, my bikini is packed and I'm really looking forward to just relaxing in the French sunshine and reading my book. Will be taking pics of my outfits and where I visit to share with you all when I'm back. Think I'm going to miss blogging and having a daily read of my favourite blogs but I'll be back soon. Bye for now.....

P.s anyone else always struggle to fit everything into their suitcase?!

My early Autumn wishlist

With the summer starting to draw to an end (sob sob) it's time to start thinking about what we are all going to be wearing in the next few months. I'm still determined to keep wearing my summer clothes for as long as I can but I discovered the website USC recently that sell a variety of brands- some I'd heard of before and others were new to me. As I clicked around the website I started to note some of their clothes I really liked that would be useful for between summer and autumn. So I've teamed some of my favourites off of their womens clothes section with some others on my wishlist!

1) Yumi Pussybow Blouse £16. This shirt is gorgeous AND a bargain! I love the pussybow detail and the gathering at the end of the 3/4 length sleeves. I chose this because it would go perfectly with jeans, leggings or shorts!

2) River Island Tube Pants £30. To the un-trained eye these look identical to the AA Disco Pants that are really popular at the moment, however these are a fraction of the price and look just as nice. What I like about the idea of Disco/Tube pants is their material being slightly thicker than leggings and also the tightness. I'm hoping to grab myself a pair to team with my blouses and tee's over the colder months.

3) Lovestruck Bird Print Dress £35. I really like this dress and think it would be really versatile to either dress down in the day teaming it with tights and pumps and a cardie or glam it up with bare legs and heels to hit the clubs. The waist is cinched in which would be flattering and the material is arranged in a 'waterfall' of different lengths.

4) Abandon Jacques Dandy Shoes £12. Despite the rather odd name these shoes have been given they are really nice and are somewhere between a loafer and a slipper! Also a complete bargain for £12 I thought. Lots of people like the studded shoe look and these definitely have the potential for a D.I.Y  project to add some studs yourself.

5) Louche Cat Jumper £49. Slightly quirky....but who can resist a cat with glasses and a bow?! The red background contrasts really well with the pattern. Think this jumper would go great with the RI Tube Pants.

6) Casio Retro Watch £40. I've become quite fond of looking at watches, I think they make a nice (useful) accessory. I love the one I currently have (which you can see in an old post I did by clicking here) but this is timeless (no pun intended haha). 

7) Miss Selfridge Black Seam Biker Jacket £52. I've never had a leather biker jacket before but I think this may be the year that I finally invest in one. I'm becoming fonder of the 'edgier' look and think this would contrast really well against my delicate softer tops.

So there you have it my little wishlist.  What is your favourite of my picks? 

What is on your list to get for the Autumn? 

Lush- Bubblegum Lip Scrub and London

Lush is one of those shops that you can wander round and round picking up various soaps and bath bombs sniffing away. I really admire the philosophy of Lush- they are so passionate about fighting animal testing and have such lovely handmade products.

After hearing they had a few new products that had been launched recently I went into one of their stores in London and picked up their 'Bubblegum Lip Scrub' which is designed to get rid of those pesky dry bits of skin that can make wearing lip-sticks a nightmare! 

It is essentially everything that it says in the name- it scrubs your lips and has a gorgeous bubblegum scent and taste which you simply lick off (trust me it's delicious!) and have buffed lips as a result.

I'm not a big fan of sticky lip balms that say they are solving dry lips but really aren't, this gets rid of the dry skin instantly. Ok you might look a bit odd with sugar all over your lips like this-

but you lick it off in seconds!!

I think this is a real bargain for £5.25, think of it almost as a primer for lips- getting them in prime condition ready to wear your best lipstick!

Have any of you tried the Lush lip scrub? Or have any similar lip solutions?

Also as a bit of a sidenote, thought I would share with you a really cool (and free) attraction in London at the moment at the Southbank. It's called aMAZEme and is a maze made out of books stacked up that have been donated by Oxfam. Reiss and I gave it a visit when we were in London this week and it was pretty fun. Here is a pic of him enjoying himself and to give you an idea of what it looks like!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week and good luck to those collecting A/As Level results today!

A little beauty splurge

I'm definitely no beauty and make-up expert, but seeing all the hype surrounding Benefit's 'They're Real!' mascara with lots of positive reviews in the Blog-o-sphere and with Benefit's ambitious claims including "One sold every 20 seconds" and "94% of customers asked said they saw dramatic length and volume" I couldn't help but want to know more about this holy grail of mascaras. Luckily there was no Benefit rep at the stand whilst I was looking at the products when I was in Boots yesterday (not too keen on their 'friendly' help and feeling like you have to buy something).

Anyway, despite the pretty hefty price tag (£18.50) I decided to give Benefit a go as I've never used any of their other mascaras whilst thinking of the beauty blogger mantra- you ultimately get the quality that you pay for! I was really excited to get home and test it out and I'm really pleased to say I wasn't disappointed!

The brush is quite thin and has tiny bristles- Benefit say to get the best result to "Postition the wand horizontally and wiggle from side to side from the base to tip...layer generously as desired" this technique worked really well and I didn't need to apply another coat! With not a dreaded clump in sight....phew!

Now for the serious question-

Is it worth £18.50? 

In my opinion I think this is definitely worth that little bit more money than you would pay for the usual drug-store make-up brands such as Rimmel or Maybelline which normally won't set you back anything more than £10. This has clearly had the research put into it to make a mascara that isn't prone to smudge and does what women really want from a mascara- length and definition.

Whilst I was in Boots I also had a browse over the 'UNE' make-up stand which is one I haven't ever given much notice to at all, I bought the 'Blush Grand Air' in the 'Breezy Cheeks' shade. This is a creamy blusher with the appearance of being a powder yet goes creamy to the touch and applies excellently. I also bought their 'Blush Brush' which they recommended to apply the blush with, it's a tiny little thing but does just the job!

Have any of you got the Benefit 'They're Real!' mascara and are now a convert like me?

What UNE products do you have?

"Baby in our wildest moments"

Jumper: Pull & Bear   Shorts: Topshop   Loafers: New Look

Burst of colour alert!! 

This is what I wore today to go and catch-up with a friend over some lunch, followed by a little marathon of 'FRIENDS' episodes- perfect! 

I love this knitted Snoopy jumper from Pull & Bear, it's got brown suede-y elbow pads too which you can't see. I bought these shorts from Topshop last summer and still really enjoy wearing them- possibly a little too short to not team with tights! Also just realised I'm basically wearing the Team GB colours.....have any of you been watching the Olympics? I've really enjoyed watching the gymnastics and the swimming.

Also I've collated a little playlist of what songs I'm really enjoying listening to at the moment- see what you think!

Jessie Ware- 'Wildest Moments'

Bombay Bicycle Club 'Beg'

Lucy Rose 'Lines'