Hello my lovelies,

It's no surprise that Dorothy Perkins is my favourite high street shop of all time, I cannot resist walking into a store and finding heaps of lovely items I want to take home with me! I'm constantly perusing their site for new items and these are the things I have my eye on at the moment:

 Raspberry button tie dress

This isn't a sponsored post by the way, it's more of a memo to myself next time the sales come around! I'm absolutely in love with the shoes though, so may start dropping hints for a Valentine's present...we don't tend to celebrate it but maybe I should introduce it, haha!

What do you think of my choices? Do you like shopping in Dorothy Perkins?

Hello my lovelies!

Following my review of Chanel Perfection Lumiere earlier today, I felt it was a bit silly to plaster my face in foundation without doing the rest of my make-up! I wanted to use Chanel Illusion D'Ombre today as it's not something I tend to use during the week, and it's too pretty to keep hidden away in my drawer.

After reading Gem's review of No7 Exceptional Definition mascara I ended up buying it with one of my vouchers yesterday as well, it's lovely and almost as good as Benefit They're Real. It's definitely a cheaper alternative if you're looking for one, the brush is so similar except it has smaller bristles on one side.

I tried to take outfit photos but am running out of places to position the camera! Jon's mum very kindly let me use her super Panasonic Lumix for these pictures and the photos on my last post, I'm obviously a newbie as I can't quite get it to focus properly in some lights but the quality is miles better than my little pink camera.

I'm wearing all H&M today, with my lovely pearl jumper and bodycon skirt. Not an outfit I'd wear for work but it's comfy and warm and perfectly suited to a lazy Sunday! I'm reading the Sherlock Holmes stories and trying to watch Gossip Girl today, just trying to recover from a nasty bout of illness yet again...

How are you spending your Sunday?

I have now been using this gorgeous foundation for around a month, so I feel I can update my impression of it.

Essentially, I love it.

I'd describe it as a light foundation. When compared to my usual Double Wear it's quite light, but easy to build up in areas that require more coverage.

My favourite way to wear this at the moment is to use one pump's worth as concealer, blending out my spots and dark circles, with a light covering of MAC MSF Natural afterwards. Because the colour is so perfect it blends beautifully and sets to a matte finish that leaves your skin feeling super soft. 

I colour-matched myself in-store to 12 Beige Rosé, as the other light beige colours seemed too yellow for my skin tone. Although I tan easily, my face has quite pinky undertones and some redness, so it was good to have a foundation that matches these as opposed to cancelling them out with yellowness. As this foundation has so many different shades I would recommend seeking advice from an assistant AND doing your own research just to be sure; many a time I've bought a foundation on merely the SA's advice and realised it is far too dark!

Unlike Mat Lumière this foundation does not oxidise after a certain time, so the colour stays relatively true to how it looks once swatched. Whether other shades oxidise, I cannot say, so it might be best to test it first.

It also smells decidedly fresh and, well, expensive; however this smell disappears soon after application so it isn't really something that could cause irritation.

What don't I like? Well, it just does not last all day on me. Admittedly I have yet to find a foundation other than Double Wear that truly lasts all day, but for £36 I would prefer it if Perfection Lumière could stay put. I have to use primer and powder to get it to linger for an entire working day, rendering it no different to Skin Base and numerous other bases I've tried.

It also has a tendency to highlight the odd dry patch of skin. Thankfully this isn't a major issue for me but if you are dry-skinned I feel you might want to keep this in mind. When my skin was dry whilst ill I found I needed a primer to keep it looking smooth! It does tend to stick around places where blemishes are healing as well so can require some careful application, however it will conceal them to the extent that I don't feel the need to add an extra dollop of concealer over the top.

Hello my lovelies!

Today's outfit photos are once again below par, tried to cram them in before the light went so the quality once again is not fantastic. I find the only decent setting on my camera these days is the Natural Light one, but even then they're blurry... Ah well!

The dress is my £5 sale buy from Dorothy Perkins, I was so chuffed when I found it. I've since bought another dress in the same sale, in the same colour but with a wrap over style, I'll try to photograph it when I next wear it. The blouse underneath is from New Look, I hardly ever wear it because it doesn't look very flattering over my chest, but if it's layered it tends to look a little nicer. I want to try it under jumpers next à la Michelle! 

  I had to do my make-up in a hurry because we were heading out, so I did a quick golden eye with shades from my Naked palette, mainly so my make-up would match my Time-Turner...sad, I know. I do so love my Time-Turner, it's the perfect accessory!

My plan for February is to obtain a DSLR, most likely secondhand and off eBay. I just feel I need to up my photography game  and as we're planning a trip to Disneyworld in Florida in autumn I want a good camera by then! Do you have any recommendations? I'd love to hear your advice!

xoxo

Hello my lovelies!

Welcome to my January favourites post. I think that looking back on previous posts this month my favourites may be quite easy to guess this time round, but I thought I would still round them up for you! Enjoy!

Bioderma Sensibio (Crealine) H2O make-up remover (not pictured as it lives in the bathroom!) - this is fabulous, you can rub your eyes as much as you like without it stinging and it removes make-up super quickly. It has shortened my nightly cleansing routine so much and I honestly think this is worthy of HG status! Unfortunately it's only available in les Francais-speaking countries but if you have friends/relatives with an Auchan hypermarket nearby it's definitely worth getting them to purchase a bottle or two for you!

Moroccanoil - I have extolled the virtues of this fabulous hair oil many a time, you're probably all bored of hearing about it. However when I saw my mum last week, mere weeks after I started using it at Christmas, she swore blind my hair had grown significantly. Now my hair NEVER grows quickly, and all I've added to my hair routine is this product, so let's just say it is worth all the hype!

Chanel Perfection Lumiere - I wanted to give this a good trial period before waxing lyrical about it, but it really is worth the money. The texture is lovely, the colour selection is great, it smells gorgeous...I haven't used a different foundation since purchasing! Review coming soon.

Sleek Brow Kit - I'm really liking thick, neat brows at the moment and mine have been decidedly patchy ever since I first picked up tweezers many moons ago. This palette is absolutely lovely and the wax keeps my brows looking neat all day. A winner for just £7.99!

What were your favourites this month? Link me to any posts if you have them!

xoxo

Hello again, my lovelies!

Thought I would have a quick catch-up post after yesterday's face display! Unfortunately my plans to blog more this week were scuppered, I did try taking more morning photos but my little camera does not like artificial light in the slightest. However I can show you a photo from earlier today, when I was attempting to wake myself up with a lovely peppermint mocha:

 I love Canterbury so much, it physically hurts to leave! I think I will have to live there again at some point to assuage these feelings!

Also I have finally learned to curl my hair with ghds, courtesy of Geo's patient instruction. I cannot believe it has taken me this long to suss it out and it is certainly something I will be experimenting with in future!

Speaking of hair... I also tried on Geo's hair extensions for fun (please excuse the pyjama photo!) and oh my goodness, I need some in my life. Desperately. They are quite heavy but feel gorgeous and I find it quite addictive seeing myself with long hair. Definitely something I am considering splashing out on! The fact that none of us realised Geo was wearing extensions all throughout uni is testament to their quality!

What are your thoughts on extensions? Do you wear them? Are you thinking about it?

Let me know!

xoxo

Hello my darlings!

I spent this weekend in my beloved Canterbury with the besties to meet up with family and celebrate Geo's birthday, and this is what I wore:

Unfortunately I didn't have time to take full-length outfit snaps before running out the house to meet my mum, so I'm afraid these hastily-snapped train photos will have to suffice. I do love this dress so will no doubt feature it again and again, the cut and colour are so flattering, once again Dorothy Perkins have come up trumps! The necklace was another Dotty P sale bargain!

For make-up I reverted to my usual eyeliner flicks, with a view to converting them into a smoky eye for the evening "do". I'm super run down at the moment so my Chanel foundation had a lot of work to do covering my dark circles and spots, but I think it performed admirably. I'm still working on my review, I promise!

Finally, this is my look for the evening out at the Venue!   

 I added a bit more blusher, as well as a smoky eye (you can't see it unfortunately!) and some lipstain. Ta-da!

xoxo

Hello my lovelies!

I've recently discovered a burning passion for all things glitter - perhaps stemming from the fact that we aren't allowed to wear jewellery at work. Banned from bling in my ears and round my neck, I have turned to something we are allowed: nail varnish!

My passion began with the Accessorize polish, which I had seen on blogs galore and finally spied in Lakeside. It had to be mine! It was soon nourished by Models Own Gold Rush and Juicy Jules (they look surprisingly good layered on top of each other...I have gone a bit glitter crazy recently), peaked with the discovery of OPI's Muppets Christmas special Warm and Fozzy in the ASOS sale (£5 people! Five! Pounds!) and completed with the gorgeous LOOK Beauty shade, rather aptly named Dorothy.

My poor nails are now battered and flaky so alas I have no up to date photographs to show you, but boy do I love my glitter. My next venture, once my nails have recovered, will be nude nails with a smattering of Juicy Jules on them. I've seen this look on blogs and I covet it, I do! 

Now admittedly glitter polishes are a nightmare to remove...if you're using the traditional removel method. However, allow me to direct you to a fabulous post by Gem for the best and least painful way to remove glitter nail varnish - it really works! 

What are your favourite glitter polishes, if any? Let me know!

Hello my lovelies!

Today's dress is one of my favourites. As you probably know, I'm a big big fan of Dorothy Perkins - in fact, most of my wardrobe now hails from there - so every season I build up a wishlist of clothes I want to purchase....and then I wait. 

Why wait, you may ask? Because every now and then, after waiting, you get lucky. And when I say get lucky, I really mean you find everything on your wishlist reduced in the sale. This happened to me last February with this dress; after coveting it in all its £36 glory, I discovered it in my size, sitting happily on the sale rail awaiting my debit card. In real life it fits a lot better than in these photos, nipped in at the waist, with a flattering neckline (I dislike anything too low-cut, as I tend to attract too much unwanted attention otherwise!) and a lightly flared skirt, not too fancy, not too casual. It's simply perfect and the material is lovely and thick as well.

It cannot be a coincidence, then, that today whilst wearing this dress I managed to nab another bargain - the merlot skater dress I'd so very nearly bought three times whilst full price, for a measly £5. Of course I accidentally bought two other cheap-as-chips dresses as well. I do so love the Brentwood Dorothy Perkins, their stock is always fantastic!

I'm also loving the Sleek brow palette. My brows have been so unruly recently, patchy and messy and generally unkempt, so I took the tweezers and scissors to them (yes, they require heavy duty taming) and now use this palette to keep them looking neat. I bought it in "Dark" and it is occasionally almost too dark, but the Light one just looked too ashy to work on my skin! I think for £7.99 they're quite reasonable and the little brushes work nicely as well.

Do you have a favourite shop where you find super bargains? Let me know!

xoxo

Hello my lovelies!

Hope you've all had a good week! I've been battling off the germs once again, urgh, so taking photographs hasn't been at the forefront of my mind recently. I'm also struggling to take decent photographs with my silly camera, it's just not picking up colours properly no matter how much I fiddle with the settings. I really want a better camera, so I'm watching a few second-hand one on eBay at the moment! Need a lottery win to afford a brand new one, haha. 

Quick face of the day photo! 

You can tell I've been ill from the enormous under-eye circles, no? It's a bit of a rough photo, wet hair, startled expression, but I was in a hurry as we were heading to Bluewater to pick up a painting my fiancé has bought. If you've never heard of Thomas Kinkade, do look him up, his paintings are gorgeous and he is the only official Disney painter! The house I live in now has five different paintings, including Peter Pan and Cinderella, they're just so beautiful and whimsical.

Whilst at Bluewater I picked up the Sleek brow palette because my brows are looking decidedly patchy at the moment, as well as a couple of Revlon bits. Boots are selling a variety of Revlon products at only £5 so I bought the Grow Luscious mascara and a pink Just Bitten stain. I will let you know my thoughts in due time!

I've also been trying to take photos for my Chanel Perfection Lumiere review. It's honestly better than it appears in my photographs, I'm really pleased with it and I've half written the review already! My lovely mother-in-law to be has said I can borrow her camera to photograph it so I will try to do so if I can find the time and the lighting.

Settling down in anticipation of Sherlock's final episode now, I hear it's going to be a good one! Eep!

Hello my lovelies!

Ridiculously proud that I've managed to blog twice this week, wahey! Ideally I'd like to get back up to three posts a week (gone are the days when I could post every day...sob) so fingers crossed, other people balance blogging with a full-time job so I should be able to as well!

Turns out "daylight" isn't as good as I hoped (isn't it gloomy out there? So depressing!) so I've positioned myself as close to the front door as possible in a bid to actually get some natural light in these pictures. Unfortunately the hall table where I place my camera is at waist height, not a terribly flattering angle, so please excuse my bizarre contortionist movements in the photos!

 This is a Vero Moda dress I bought in the ASOS sale, primarily because it was cheap (£13!) and because Vero Moda reminds me of after school shopping trips with my friends and so assuages my homesickness a little. When I first tried it on I was a bit perplexed, the collar was done up and I resembled Queen Elizabeth I a little too much for my liking. Once undone though, the dress looks far more relaxed and more flattering I think and as I adore the colour I decided to keep it!

Despite not having anywhere to go today I decided to put some make-up on as I just enjoy having the time to do it; during the week I tend to slap on concealer and powder, bit of blusher and mascara and then rush out the house, so weekends are when the whole make-up bag gets used! I feel as I own so much make-up that I need to use it on a regular basis, we can't have it feeling unloved now can we...

 

Today I'm wearing Chanel Perfection Lumiere as concealer, MAC MSF Natural over the top with Sleek Rose Gold blusher, MAC Indianwood and Revlon Colorstay liquid liner on my eyes, finished off with Dior Extase/Benefit They're Real mascara and MAC's Impassioned blotted down on my lips, because it matches the dress beautifully! I know it sounds like a lot of make-up but I really enjoy applying it as I find it relaxing, almost...am I alone in this??

For the rest of today I'll most likely be relaxing, maybe watching a bit of old school Gossip Girl as my sister gave me the first two series for Christmas, then tonight we're having one last big meal before the big DETOX DIET starts tomorrow...I predict I will last all of two days before the desire to eat chocolate takes over!

How are you spending your Sunday?

xoxo

Hello my lovelies!

Somehow managed to miss getting decent photos in daylight despite not going to work today! I'm still trying to work out the best location to take proper outfit shots without having to get Jon to take pictures all the time so I'm making do with these for the time being!

I'm making more and more blogger-inspired buys at the moment (ASOS check skirt a la Maria...) and today's dress was no exception. Spotted this on Jennie's blog a few weeks ago and it just had to be mine! I love the collar and the lace; it's a bit loose on me but I'd taken the tags off so can't exchange it for a smaller size, so I might try wearing it with a more bodycon dress underneath so it doesn't look so shapeless! It's super comfy though and even looks nice under jumpers (had to pop one on over the top as I was too cold, roll on spring!).

I actually swear my hair's been growing faster since I started using Moroccanoil, or maybe it just seems that way! I have definitely been converted, it reduces blowdrying time significantly (I can confirm this as my morning routine used to require at least ten minutes for hairdrying, now it takes less than five, meaning I can stay in bed an extra five minutes!) and it just leaves my hair feeling so soft and well-nourished. Safe to say I shall be repurchasing no matter the cost!

I'm trying to take the time to blog more now I have a new laptop, although looking back at these photos it just makes me more desperate for a new camera. Four months to go until my birthday... 

Have you discovered any wonder products recently? Let me know!

xoxo

Hello my lovelies!

I tried to make the most of having some free time today and took some make-up snaps using my mum's camera (my entire family possesses posh cameras far superior to my little pink one!). The lighting is dreadful, I swear we have had a single day of sunshine in the last two weeks. I need some vitamin D pronto! I wasn't able to take any of these without using the flash, it is simply so grim and grey outside these days.

Happy New Year to all of you and thank you for continuing to read this blog!

Hello my lovelies!

I hope you're all worn out from celebrating last night! I had a lovely night in with my family and our own private firework show courtesy of my sister's boyfriend and to top it off my sister tagged me to answer these questions on how my year has been. Never one to resist wasting half an hour answering a tag, here are my responses!

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?

I didn't spend my birthday with my whole family which was somewhat bizarre...I graduated (woop) and got my first real job, went on holiday with Jon by ourselves, got invited to some fab blogger events...may 2012 bring much much more!

2. What countries did you visit?

Nothing out of the ordinary but I did have my first Disneyland experience in September! It was amazing, I have to go again, hopefully to the Florida one next!

3. What moments from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory?

Unfortunately some are a bit rubbish and I shan't go into them here, but finding out I had achieved the 2:1 I wanted was a good'un, as was graduating with all my loved ones that were able to make it. Ticking off things on our "things to do before leaving uni" was fun as well, I think we managed to get most of them done!

4. Where did most of your money go?

Probably clothes...not counting rent and travel and so on! I need to curb my spending habit in 2012...

5. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Too many to count but anything from Glee's second season as that is basically all we watched at uni!

6. What do you wish you'd done more of?

I wish I'd made the most of my last year in Canterbury and spent less time writing essays! Also I do wish I had more time to blog properly as I really miss it, it used to be a pleasure putting on make up and getting dressed up for posts, it's just not the same doing it for work!

7. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Eating...need to lose a few pounds!

8. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?

Ahem, disregarding the above answer as much as possible!

9. Did you fall in love in 2011?

I stayed very much in love with Jon! Fell in love with a few too many Kurt Geiger shoes though...

10. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Nope.

11. What did you want and get?

I wanted to graduate with results I would be proud of, and I definitely achieved this!

12. What did you want and not get?

A lottery win...and my masters programme (sob). I make noises about my driver's license every year but once again not actually done anything constructive in terms of achieving this.

13. What was your favourite film(s) of this year?

Definitely Deathly Hallows Part 2, although the King's Speech and Tangled were fab as well. Beauty and The Beast became a staple for evenings when we needed a bit of Disney (love a bit of Disney!).

14. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I went to the seaside with my grandad (we share a birthday) and nana and Jon. I turned 23! Scary!

15. Who was the best new person/people you met?

I finally got to meet some other bloggers! I'm hoping to continue this at the #ldnlunch in March :D

16. Did you learn anything?

That earning money does not equal happiness.

17. Who did you spend Valentines with?

I er, didn't. We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day, instead we try and have dates as often as possible!

18. Do you live in the same place you did at the beginning of the year?

No, I've moved to Essex to be with my second family :)

19. Did you change your hair?

Not significantly. It's not grown as much as I hoped!

20. Any weddings in 2011?

My cousin Sam got married and it was beautiful - who needs a royal wedding?

21. Any babies in 2011?

Dear God no.

22. So overall was it a good year?

It could have been better. Much better. Not a patch on 2010 in terms of luck!

23. Were you naughty or nice?

I like to think I was nice!

24. What's your New Year's Resolution?

To pursue my dreams properly and achieve at least one of them! 

I pass this tag on to anyone who fancies spending a wee bit of time filling it in. Let me know if you do, I love reading other people's answers!