Hello my lovelies,
Today marked my four year anniversary with Jon, so in order to celebrate we took ourselves to that great location for romance - the Tower of London, famous for prisoners, murders and erm, beheaded wives...
In all fairness though it is perfect for a history buff (Jon) and a Tudor-obsessed snap-happy amateur photographer (me), so despite the overcast skies and hordes of tourists we spent a good three hours wandering round marvelling at the beauty of it all. I found it particularly incongruous having the glorious ancient White Tower with the Shard as its backdrop, and the Gherkin pops up with alarming regularity too, but it's part of what makes London so fascinating for me - the juxtaposition of old and new!
Trousers - New Look/ Cardigan / Primark/ Bag - Accessorize/ Top -So old I can't remember
Admittedly I dressed for warmer climes, putting too much faith in the weather forecast yet again. I was a bit chilly in these New Look trousers but they are super comfy and less restricting than skinny jeans! As a lazy self-tanner these will be perfect for days when I haven't put any effort into my pale legs and don't wish to show them off under a dress. It was extremely windy out too, as you can probably tell from my interesting coiffure!
Moments after Jon took the first snap an enormous tour group rounded the corner and I was treated to some funny looks and comments from the Yeoman leading them...awkward. Apart from that and the winding dodgy stairs everywhere it was a great afternoon and we've even purchased their yearly membership* so we can go again and again! I'm really looking forward to going on a sunny warm day (if it ever happens again) as it's such a pretty area as well. Definitely the perfect way to spend our anniversary - although we live together it's just nice to spend some quality time together just being Jon and Dani (and of course taking heaps of couply snaps for my scrapbook!).Perhaps we'll start doing it every Sunday!
Hope you've all had great weekends too! Have you visited the Tower? Did you enjoy it?
Love Dani xoxo
P.S I've finally got my hands on Photoshop again - albeit an ancient version but it's perfectly serviceable - available for FREE on adobe.com! Just in case anyone is interested :)
* The yearly membership is £67 for two (less for 1 person) and offers entry to plenty of other palaces in and around London. Definitely worth checking out if you enjoy visiting these places and if you will visit more than once!
Hello my lovelies,
Let's talk about some of the dirtier aspects of beauty, shall we? No, not that kind of dirty...literal dirt. My brushes are usually a fetching mix of grubby orange and pink as I like to buff all my make-up in and use three brushes for the same job! Not nice!
I tend to clean my brushes at least once a week, usually more! In ye olde days (ie, uni) I would use a mild baby shampoo to clean them but recently I have discovered a far more effective product which in my opinion works wonders.
Enter...Bioderma H2O.
Obviously mild shampoo is fine and works perfectly well, but I'm a bit OCD and like my brushes to look like new once they've been cleaned, and I always found with baby shampoo that they looked a bit orange once the cleansing has been completed. Not anymore!
My basic method is this:
Squeeze a small amount of Bioderma into a dish or a small cup, then swirl your brush in it, pushing down gently so the bristles really absorb the product. Then rinse under warm water. If the make up still lingers, simply repeat! I sometimes go on to wash them with a mild soap afterwards just because I like my brushes to smell nice but obviously this is down to personal preference!
I like this method as it is quick and super effective, also it is gentle enough to not harm the bristles - I've had my Real Techniques brushes for a year and a half now and they still look like new once washed, no bristle loss at all!
How do you wash your brushes? What do you think of using a micellar water to do so?
Love Dani xoxo
Hello my lovelies!
Hope you have all had a relaxing sunny weekend - I certainly have! Spent way too much money in Bluewater yesterday but that's just standard after payday, and I always like to justify my purchases by only spending money when items are on offer. That's the story of how yet another Dorothy Perkins dress made it into my wardrobe...
I'm really enjoying the simple jersey dresses they've been rolling out over the last few months. Usually in several different prints, a nice work-appropriate length and sporting an £18 price tag, they're wonderful and I have one of the short-sleeved lace print ones that I quite literally wear about three times a month, so definitely getting my money's worth! I spotted this stripy number in store yesterday and fell in love with the wide straps (no showing off my bra!) and the adorable sweetheart neckline.
Dress ~ Dorothy Perkins; shoes ~ New Look; bag ~ Accessorize; cardigan ~ Primark
This photo was taken while some people came out the house opposite and just stood there staring at me...erm, awkward much?! Hence the uncomfortable grimace...
All in all the perfect comfy outfit for a quick Starbucks (had to make the most of happy hour!) and a delicious barbecue, with plenty of chilling in the sunshine - I even made time to paint my nails! I also felt it appropriate to show off my latest accessory - a rose gold DKNY watch, from my lovely daddy:
Looks quite bling, especially with my engagement ring, but a little bit of sparkle never hurt anybody! It'll certainly brighten up my days at work!
How did you spend your weekend? Hope you all have a lovely week!
Love Dani xoxo
Hi my lovelies,
Hope you're all having a great Bank Holiday weekend so far! We booked a couple of days off work to make it an extra long weekend and have spent the last couple of days chilling and doing bits around the house (we now have a bistro set on the balcony - my excitement is enormous!)
Today we went to the British Museum to see their Pompeii exhibition, which was really interesting and has made me want to visit that part of Italy (the fact that Capri is so close is of course an added bonus) so now I'm planning holidays galore! I adore museums and am more than happy to spend hours wandering round the different exhibits, but what I'm not such a fan of is the aches and pains that follow. I'm now curled up on the sofa trying to get some feeling back into my feet, despite wearing my comfiest shoes!
Outfit: H&M tee and jacket, Next shorts, Accessorize bag, Converse low-tops, Fiorelli bangle
Face: Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation, Benefit They're Real mascara, Sugarbomb blush and Fake Up concealer, Topshop lipstick
This outfit definitely takes me back to my teenage/student years, what with Converse, shorts and a baggy T-shirt. It's a little more pop-punk than my teenage style though, as 16 year old me never owned a (p)leather jacket and would probably not have worn quite so much make-up (lipstick was a world as yet unexplored, when I was younger!). I was half tempted to put lipgloss on to fully regain that sense of youth, but opted for my new Topshop lippie in the long-coveted Brighton Rock instead. I also managed to convince Jon to take some snaps at the oh-so-picturesque train station as we waited for our train, as it was bizarrely deserted...probably because everyone else is at the beach or something!
Tomorrow we're hoping these clouds clear up so we can have the first BBQ of the year, and I also want to go see Iron Man 3 before daily routines resume... what are you up to this Bank Holiday?
Dani
xoxo
In all fairness though it is perfect for a history buff (Jon) and a Tudor-obsessed snap-happy amateur photographer (me), so despite the overcast skies and hordes of tourists we spent a good three hours wandering round marvelling at the beauty of it all. I found it particularly incongruous having the glorious ancient White Tower with the Shard as its backdrop, and the Gherkin pops up with alarming regularity too, but it's part of what makes London so fascinating for me - the juxtaposition of old and new!
Moments after Jon took the first snap an enormous tour group rounded the corner and I was treated to some funny looks and comments from the Yeoman leading them...awkward. Apart from that and the winding dodgy stairs everywhere it was a great afternoon and we've even purchased their yearly membership* so we can go again and again! I'm really looking forward to going on a sunny warm day (if it ever happens again) as it's such a pretty area as well. Definitely the perfect way to spend our anniversary - although we live together it's just nice to spend some quality time together just being Jon and Dani (and of course taking heaps of couply snaps for my scrapbook!).Perhaps we'll start doing it every Sunday!
Hope you've all had great weekends too! Have you visited the Tower? Did you enjoy it?
