Fashion Bloggers Get Royal.

Well well, where do i start? Its all very exciting! I'm pleased to announce that this morning i received a very last minute invitation to Royal Wedding - what can i say? I'm practically family to the Beckhams and i'm forever bumping into the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie in Mahki, and of course it only going to be a number of days until Prince Harry realises i'm his one true love! But as much as i cannot wait to brush shoulders with the likes of royalty, and make the future Queen my new bff, what the HECK am i going to wear? 

Being the charmer that i am, i managed to bat my fluttery eyelashes and grab a few plus-ones, so i decided to ask Gem, Emma, Sarah, Lucy, Michelle, Hannah, Lucy, Hannah. But of course, i couldn't just let them turn up in any old thing, my reputation is at stake here! So i asked them all to create an wedding inspired outfit post on their blogs, one outfit from the high-street and one designer.

I told them to release their inner Goks/BrixSmith/OliviaPalmero/RachelZoe - you get the drift. Take inspiration from TOWIE or Big Fat Gypsy Wedding for all i care i screamed! They had to pick their favourite dresses, shoes, bags and accessories, and of course not forgetting to put their own stamp on it. 

Here are my outfits - suitable for charming any prince..

DESIGNER

Victoria Beckham Sunglasses (£305) / Jimmy Choo Heels (£395) / Victoria Beckham Clutch (£2,100) / Erdem Dress (£4,200) / Pippa Small Ring (£1,600) / Annina Vogel Ring (£2,850) / YSL Tributes Heels (£550) / Alexander McQueen Clutch (£1,256) / Tibi Gown (£790)

Whats that? Two outfits? You bet. One simply cannot set out to impress in one outfit alone.

 Numero one, or as i like to call it my 'head-turner.' With large crowds of the public and photos literally going global, a girl would definitely need a outfit to be remembered in. Being very patriotic i would support fellow British talent by sporting the white lace Erdem number, with a flash of sultry red. Not forgetting my Victoria Beckham sunglasses to shield my eyes from the paps, and to create that allure of mystery. As well carrying one of her new clutch bags - of which, dare i say, would be a fantastic conversation starter we wait in line to powder our noses in the ladies. Moving swiftly on to the wedding reception i would change in to outfit numero two, a romantic embellished maxi by Tibi, with my Alexander McQueen clutch (paying homage to another Brit designer of course - brownie points) and my trusty YSL tributes, in order to slow dance with a spanish prince or two?

HIGHSTREET

Topshop Heels (£62) / Aldo Bag (£32) / Accessorise Necklace (£6) / French Connection Dress (£110)

And the outfit from the high-street, not much of a wowser to say the least. Although what a fierce shade, yet it would err clash with a certain red-headed prince? Trusty Topshop comes to save the day with nude, patent heels of course. But i think i'm better suited as a designer girl through and through, wouldn't you say? ;) 

It pains me to say, that this post was only a bit of fun, but worth it all the same! Be sure to check out the other girls posts, as i simply adore each and every one of their style and blogs! 

Gem

Sarah

Emma

Hannah 

Lucy

Michelle

Lucy

Hannah

Some body to love.

Tomorrow my beloved blog turns two years of age, it's been quite a journey to say the least, a very enjoyable one at that. I have documented all my ramblings, be that about my life in general, my favourite fashion must-haves, and of course not forgetting about my slightly crazy obsessions, Topshop and disgustingly expensive mascara. Along the way i have interned at many different magazines, my eye-brows have finally grown (yay*) and i seem to even stretched out to wearing a pair of trousers, god forbid. 

And to my delight, i have gathered quite a few readers and made many, many (internet) friends, much to the horror of my real friends, and my nan. Although, it makes me feel truly wonderful to know that other like-minded lovely ladies want to read my rambles, i write this blog for no one but myself. I don't set out to impress, it's just me. I write because i enjoy it and to be honest, there's nothing i love more than writing endlessly about the 'it' hand-bag i so desperately need in my life. 

I'm sorry to say that you won't find the latest churned out press releases here or crazy giveaways, because that really isn't my style. I really hope you understand. And that you stay a little longer to enjoy the ride, and please continue to excuse the god awful photo booth pictures of my mug and messy bed room. :) For i am sure there are many, many rambles of the future waiting to be written.

much love x

* ignore this picture, bastard photobooth!

I keep my mind on my money, money on my mind.

As the summer draws in and my summer holiday seems to be coming closer, i decided that it really never is too early to holiday shop. Changing over my wardrobe from winter to summer, i realised that last year i hardly bought any summer clothes, nada. This may have been because i never went away or even because i spent most of last summer interning, and turning up in a teeny tiny floral sun-dress wouldn't have been that appropriate, sadly. This is my last summer before i hit the real world, i intend to make full use of my freedom for settling down befor the dream career. 

Red flower print skirt - River Island (£24.99)

I never ever wear red, but i love this burnt coral red skirt. I cant wait to wear this with an assortment of blazers for the city, and a simple v-neck white tee on holiday.

 Suade Moccasions - New Look (£24.99)

My favourite purchase, i plan to wear these to the ground. So, so comfy. 

I really need to sort out the wardrobe, thats one situation to sort out after the big hand-in.

Tomorrow i have an interview set up with Mike Soutar, the managing director of ShortList Media who publish both Stylist and ShortList magazine. I'm disgustingly nervous, hoping that i a) don't say something really stupid b) hoping they have all forgotten that i half cried in the office after dropping my beloved iPhone down the toilet. Other than that, i'm really excited to grill him on the men's market, which is the main topic of my dissertation. I find men's magazines fascinating, weird? Yes. They are after all strange creatures men. But in gods name, what the HECK do i wear? 

LOLA

It all started when my Grandmother showed me her most prized possession, hidden away from prying eyes lies a simple ring box. A gift to her from my Grandfather in earlier days of their budding romance, is the most divine cocktail ring i have ever set my eyes upon. Littered with diamonds and sapphires, my Grandfather clearly has very good taste, an eye for the exquisite, fine jewellery. Only worn a hand-ful of times, its too precious to wear doing simple chores, but kept for best. The ring has barley seen daylight, which is such a shame, to hide such a beauty. Clearly my Grandmother is far to scared too lose such a sentimental item, on the rare occasions she has taken it out, we have admired it's overpowering beauty. 

From this point on, i was in love with thought of collecting beautiful jewellery, building up such a collection of prized pieces to someday pass on. 

All taken from my favourite jewellers Swag, which have rather good prices for their dress rings, in comparison to other jewellers. How divine is the rose diamond ring? Just ignore the eye watering price. I'd wear them every single one, and yes, all at once! 

My parents kindly bought the very last one for me a few years back, It is blue topaz set with amethyst shoulders and is a total eye catcher! I wear this ring every single day, without fail. I love that its breaks the rules, its large and sparkling in your face. 

There's nothing i adore more than wandering around the Victoria and Albert museum jewerely room, they have the most amazing collection of jewels, from plush gemstones to daintiest of diamonds to the tiaras of royalty. I really recommend a visit, oh to be able to try them on!

What a sparkling post! 

Up the Bracket

I saw this new collection featured on Sarah's blog a few weeks ago, and i had to share my top picks with you. There has been little publicity and hype surrounding the H&M Conscious collection, which i find rather bizarre simply because the pieces are just so simple, fresh and pretty, not to mention utterly affordable - i can justify buying the entire collection.

The Conscious collection is an eco-friendly range, made only from recycled cotton and polyester, promoting the use of sustainable greener materials. Not only does this collection have a fantastic message to promote, it has a minimalistic style of crisp white tailoring, yet romantic frills. Think scalloped edges, brodie anglaise, frills with grecian inspired gowns for evening wear. 

Tunic - £14.99

Perfect for lazing on the beach, or even in the garden with denim cut offs.

Dress - £29.99

A must buy, perfect for summer evening parties.

dress - £34.99

I'm not too keen on any hem-lines that pass my knees, but this grecian maxi-dress is perfectly simple.

 dress - £34.99

How can pretty can you be? The frills, laces and tie-up straps are evoking my inner romantic.

 dress - £29.99

I adore the floral patten, and the scalloped edge ever more so!

dress - £29.99

Sadly i don't have the assets to carry off this dress, but this design looks like something straight off the runway not high-street. 

  top - £19.99

Such pretty detailing. 

blazer - £29.99

Crisp white blazer, a tan, grey tee, denim shorts.

blazer - £29.99

I adore the nude pink shade, practically goes with everything and anything. 

 shorts - £14.99

Textured, tailored shorts -i just need to hunt these down.

 shorts - £12.99

My favourite piece from the collection- such a STEAL. So dainty and pretty, i will leave no store un-turned until find these - they will be mine!

The collection launches in-store and online tomorrow (the 14th April), will be you hunting pieces down?  Killer failsafe designs, good quality and great prices - i highly salute you H&M. 

MR BLUE SKY

Sitting in my garden in my sunshine is my absolute favourite place to be, especially with a good book and an iced tea - my idea of heaven! So before i pack up my books on masculinity - who knew men were so interesting? - and head on out to the sunshine i wanted to share a few items that i picked up the last couple of days.

Yesterday i popped into Central London for a few errands, mainly to pick up a few books from London College of Fashion, attend a press day with Sarah and of course, track down that dress.

After many squeals of delight of spotting the perfect summer dress, i practically legged it to the fitting room to try it on. Thats when the disappointment crept in. Although it fits perfectly, its just too short, literally only just covering my bottom! I'm no stranger to short hemlines, but theres a difference from mini to practically showing your ass off. Major sad times, hopefully they will bring this out in the Tall range and i might have better luck - here's hoping..

In the meantime, i  came across this cotton, floral summer dress. I snapped this pretty sharpish i can tell you! I cannot wait to wear this with my plaited waist belt and sandals, for lazy summer evening drinks.

And finally! last week i placed an order with ASOS using my two Groupon vouchers, i had £40 to spend so i decided to divulge in some high-end make-up, as its a fail safe option to purchasing clothes and hoping the sizing is correct, well so i thought! 

I had set out to purchase some bits and bobs from Nars, however every time the pieces i wanted appeared online, they were snapped up so quickly by other shoppers that they sold out on the asap. So i decided that i would branch out and purchase the Benefit Magic Ink and a Jemma Kidd blush with my voucher. The very next day, they re-stocked the entire Nars line..

Jemma Kidd Blush - 5th Avenue (£12.00)

There's been a lot of hype around Jemma Kidd products, it has a fairly reasonable prices and some really pretty shades. I chose the Jemma Kidd blush in 5th Avenue, it is simply beautiful, light and slightly shimmery. It adds a sheer but reasonable amount of colour on the cheek. With many coral blushes you have to employ such a light hand, but this always distributes just the right amount of colour without resembling being tangoed. I'm so very glad i purchased this - definitely should check this out. This is the perfect coral for pale skinned girls, at a very reasonable price!

Although i am slightly baffled as to why the pan of product isn't attached to the actual packaging, odd?

Benefit Magic Ink Liquid Eyeliner - (£14.50)

This item was a slight impulse purchase, only after declaring my love for the L'Oreal liner, i thought i would try a more brush type liner rather than a wand, as i find it easier to create a better flick with this type of brush. I had high expectations for this product, many moons ago Benefit produced a Bad Gal liquid eyeliner which i swore by, but of course like most of their products they eventually discontinued it - boo! And i was pleasantly surprised to see this is basically the same product, good black pigmentation and long-wearing eyeliner. 

With my final voucher left and to my uttermost delight i finally got my hands on a lipstick and blusher from Nars! But of course, things never ever run smooth do they? ASOS sent me my package and i received it yesterday afternoon, i eagrly ripped off the packaging (as you do) and went to swatch away. After modelling the new blusher to the Mother, i realised that they had sent me the wrong bloody shade.

 I swear ASOS and i have a long, turbulent relationship which has amounted in most of my orders being lost or equally messed up. I hopfooted it on to Twitter to moan my heart out, and amazingly their customer service team were EXCELLENT. They apologised, sent the right blusher out to my first thing this morning and told me to keep the wrong shade. So i now have two Nars blushes, thank you very much ASOS! 

I've had long had my eye on Nars' lipstick in Barbarella, a very sheer peach is the ultimate summer tone! Especially on days like this!

On the left we have Gilda, a warm rosey red coral and then Gina, the mistake, which is a very bright pop of coral. I must have an entire family of coral blushes in my collection now, who knew there were so many different tones and shades of coral? ;)

And here are some very pretty, more accurate swatches: Gilda, Gina and 5th Avenue.

A very long, coralisous post indeed!

Tropicana!

Despite the woes of writing a literature review, and yes quite frankly i ain't going to stop banging on about the big D. The joys of dissertation writing are not by any means fun, i don't think i've ever encountered something so stressful. This might be due to the fact that my course, magazine publishing only has a good five books devoted to such subject in the library. Queue panic-driven faces and stressed out melt-downs. Needless to say i'm on track and am mostly looking forward to my primary research where i get to attack men of all ages on Northern line with a dictaphone, questioning their magazine reading habits. But getting back to the point of this post, something exciting happened last week. There is finally light at the end of the tunnel, my parents booked a family trip to CUBA!

I've already been fortunate to visit Cuba once before and it was the best place i've ever visited. 

As Cuba is communist country, it is such a striking contrast to the way we live our lives. We visited the city of Guardalavaca, as Cuba isn't a big tourist area there were few excusustions and trips and especially as we werent in the main capital city of Havana. However, we made a few trips in to the nearest town to see what was about. When driving around the roads of Cuba, what amazes you is the amount of people waiting along the road side. People of all ages, from families with small children to elderly little couples sitting at the road side in the blistering heat waiting for some form of transportation. We were informed that there is no real bus system and that most of the time they either hitch hike or walk to their chosen destination! When arriving in town, during the middle of the day there weren't many places open or people around. We soon found out why, when we observed people had been waiting and queuing to pay with ration books, yes ration books. The way of life that the Cuban people live is so different the life we know. They are not permitted to leave the country, with many professional doctors and lawyers with university education result to working in hotels or driving taxis for tourists. And this is a far cry from the small shanty houses in towns or the wrecks of metal and wood in the rural areas. Although, life is surprisingly different to ours, Cubans are very welcoming and friendly, happy people. The best part of the island, its true beauty was it's beaches. With pure white sand and clear blue sea, its my own personal heaven.  

I literally cannot wait to go back! I'm staying in a different part of the island, hoping that i will get the chance to visit Havana and one of the many cigar factories, and of course having many, many rum cocktails.

Cream Pansy Border Dress - Topshop (£36.00) / Straw Trilby - Accessorize (£18.00) / White Belted Holiday Shorts - Topshop (£32.00) / Aztec Bikni - Accessorize (£29.00) / Jake Tan Leather Moccosin - Miss Selfridge (£32.00) / Polkadot Frilly Swimsuit - Accessorize (£28.00) / Ditzy Floral Playsuit - Accessorize (£30.00) / Red Print Bow Circle Skirt - River Island (£24.99)

So of course, whilst working hard it was only fair to indulge in some serious online holiday shopping. 

Are you jetting off anywhere?

Sunday Skincare

A couple of months ago i finally came to the conclusion that my 'teenage skin' had disappeared. Of course, with a combination skin i definitely do still get the odd few pimples, but not on the scale i had when i was fourteen. It seems to have (thankfully!) just grown-up, being much brighter and more clearer, and less oily overall.

But over the last few weeks, as like many who are doing exams/essays galore, my skin has been feeling the stress too. So whipping out my trusty Liz Earle book - which i really think makes a fabulous present - i planned on giving my self a 'facial'. No fancy products were used, literally samples i had building up in my beauty box, i'm a stickler for stashing all the sachets away, especially for that one blasted day your shampoo runs out!

St Helens Mint Julep Mask - Amazon / Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish / Clinique 7 Day Scrub / Clinique Moisture Surge / Liz Earle Muslin Cloth / Lush Toner Tab in Tea Tree / Burt's Bees Radiance Cream 

Liz Earle states how to give yourself a gorgeous facial at home - the full salon treatment without any expense by going through this running order:

cleanse - exfoliate - steam - mask - moisturise

I literally used sample products that i had lying around basically to use them up and to switch up/add a little excitement to my cleansing routine. 

I firstly used Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish which i received for free alongside another order. Although, i'm not strictly converted as using this as my main every-day cleanser i still think this is a fabulous cult product. This light cream is massaged onto dry skin, to cleanse away any grime or dirt to provide a clean base. If you are wearing make-up, its best to complete this step twice. 

In order to remove the cream, i used the Liz Earle Muslin Cloth, of which is a definite staple in my skin care routine. Like a flannel, the damp cloth gently exfoliates and cleans away the excess cleanser and grime. These are definitely well worth a purchase, for £3.55 for two and being machine washable, i really do think these are a simple yet amazing item that rapidly enhances your complexion! They can be used with any cleanser or face wash, as well as being a great tool for removing stubborn clay face masks.

  

Liz Earle is a pretty hard to come by brand, if you don't live near any of their stores or a large John Lewis or dislike ordering online (i personally detest paying P&P) and if you do want to give these a trail run No7 do their own version for 3 for £4.49 - which is basically free if you hang around for their £5 voucher offers!

Next i used the Clinique 7 Day Scrub to exfoliate my skin, and do a more intense scrub to clear dead skin cells. Soap and Glory 'Scrub Your Nose In It' and St Ives Apricot Scrub are also honourable products to mention, as they too are great exfoliators i've come across.

Then i steamed my face with hot water and stream to open my pores, simply by boiling a kettle and using (nearly!) boiled water in a bowl and covering my head/shoulders with a towel. I also popped in a Lush Toner Tab in Tea Tree which are a bloomin' good accomplice. For a bargainous 99p, simply pop one into the bowl and they will fizz away to release tea tree straight into your pores for a good clean and detox! I bought a packet of five well over a year ago, and i use one of the odd occasion if my skins feeling pretty gruesome, this does an excellent job of fighting off spots. Once the water has cooled, it can then be doubled up as a toner - perfect! 

They also do Toner Tabs fully charged with Vitamin C and E to boost radiance and overall complexion too, if your one of the lucky few who aren't spot prone. 

After steaming my face for a few minutes, i pat my face and apply the St Helenes Mint Julep mask all over. This stuff is actually amazing! I swear by it, as you can see from my abused bottle. It the US this is a somewhat cult product, it does an amazing job of extracting impurities (most notably stubborn blackheads) and can also be used as a spot treatment to fight off unwanted blemishes. And i'm not joking when i says this actually works, i have tried countless clay masks that feel relaxing and all that good stuff, but don't perform in the slightest. 

I hunted mine down on Amazon for under a fiver, and despite the fact its slightly smells of weed, this is a very impressive product and lasts forever in that giant-size tube.

 After leaving the mask to dry completely for 20 minutes, i washed it off with the help of my muslin cloth and patted my skin dry. I then applied Burt's Bees Radiance Day Cream just because it makes my skin look very refreshed and i felt guilty for not using it from my tin gift set that i received for Christmas. Then i slathered and massaged a layer of Clinique Moisture Surge that i got as a freebie from bulk buying last months copy of Glamour magazine. I have actually previously bought a full-size tub, and it ain't worth the hype. It is seriously tacky to touch and it's a horrid gel like formula. Albeit slightly useable on top of another lightweight moisturiser. 

I would love to say i do this routine every Sunday, but being honest it's when i have the time. I wish i could though - who doesn't love being pampered? 

For those of you that are students and are cramming for exams and completing dissertations and coursework, i feel your pain - and so does my dissertation course supervisor who i keep having bursts crying fits to. ;)