Valentines Day Sorted - ft Pretty Little Thing

With Valentines Day coming up... I thought I would put together a quick little collage of my favourite items from Pretty Little Thing. I love this site at the mo - I am finding it hard to find clothes I like, that I can justify the price of as well so Pretty Little Thing is my go to!

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KATALEA EMERALD GREEN TWIST FRONT SILKY SHIRT DRESS

- £28.00

Comes in 13 different colours - I like this colour the best as it is unusual and can be worn throughout the year as well. Also it goes the best teamed with gold necklace underneath 

FEVIAH GOLD DROP CHAIN CHOKER

£5.00!!

In love with this - a very delicate necklace with a snakey like effect on the long pendant - contouring to all the different shapes a chest may have. Meaning it doesn't lie flat and off your skin!

HANNY BURGUNDY CROCHET LACE BACKLESS MIDI DRESS

£40.00

How gorgeous is this?! 

The placement of crochet is so effective here - contouring the shape of your body to give it the most flattering look it can.

Such pretty colour too - perfect teamed with a tan and gold accessories.

KEKE BLACK CHIFFON TEDDY

£15.00

For the night time.. I love this teddy. So pretty and delicate without being over-the-top-sexy. Great for warm weather in the summer too!

Comes in 3 different colours but in my opinion this is the only one I would go for!

Pretty Little Thing Wish List - Autumnal Wear

I have heard of the online retailer 'PrettyLittleThing' for a while - its been around on a lot adverts lately, but I have never really checked it out as I only trust ASOS as my shopping destination when the shop is only online. 

I have had some trouble with Miss Guided so that has put me off. The quality is never ever the same as it looks on the pictures and a lot of my friends have had trouble with their delivery/refund policy. 

So as a quick intro into this brand - if, like me, your not really into investigating new online retailers, I thought I would put together a 'wish list' piece of some of my favourite clothes in their 'New In' section. Keeping it as Autumn as possible as shops have started to slowly filter out their Summer sections.

They also seem to always have good offers on - as I was looking there was 20% off all dresses until that midnight, free delivery (winner) til the following midnight AND 15% student discount!

1. Shirt Dress - £20 I'm not normally a fan of shirt dresses but I like this as its long enough to wear in Summer on holiday with lace up gladiators, and then with white jeans in the Summer but back in the UK. But also with dark jeans/leggings when transitioning into the Autumn!

2. Trousers - £15 - I love these! Again - I'm not really a fan of trousers as I don't really have anywhere to wear them like work etc but these work for me as they are so versatile. They can be worn as shown for a nice dinner date or worn with flat shoes for your office job which isnt quite a boring suit situation. Failing that you can just roll around your house in them pretending as if you have something important to do.. somewhere.. but not sure where. Thats what I will do anyway.

3. Backless Dress - £10 I know this is probably unsuitable for Autumn but its a going out dress, and me and all my friends (and everyone I have ever seen go out) won't let the weather stop us in our outfit choice for the night out! Even in snow we are in small clothes and heels!! And with this colour being a wine-y shade of red I think it kinda fits in with the theme! It's flattering on all skin colours as it is so warming(it does come in 4 different Autumnal colours). And only 10 bloody ££££££'s. 

4.Grey Jumper - £15 I LOVE this jumper. I love how its styled, I love the mix of colours, and I love the chunky knit of it. So much so, that as I was clicking through the collection to find some stuff for this post I quickly ordered it haha!! Not much more to say other than I really love it! And want to get myself some Chelsea boots to match now!

5. Boots - £20 - Last but not least I have chosen some shoes. I went for more winter shoes than heels as they would be worn more than strappy little things. I like these as they come up slightly higher than ankle boots so give you more protection against the cold/snow, and they also have a nice heel on them too as there is nothing worse than completely flat shoes - it makes me back ache terribly! I like the cute little gold detailing too!

..I Have Finished Education After 16 Years!

I have some good and exciting news.. for me not you haha!

I have officially completed uni!!! forever!! Speaking of which, I have just had the email to confirm I will be graduating! 

I cant actuall believe I have finished education after 16 years! I have only ever known life in this routine which is quite frightening as I have huge anxiety problems and dont work well without my certain routine! 

I have been with these girls (and one boy) for 4 years now so I am now full of different emotions leaving that place. It has had more lows than highs- and I think everyone will vouch for me there! but the laughs between the tears of all these girls and Jak, has pulled me through! 

I am extremely grateful for them as we have been through alot together, broken familys, various boyfriends, deaths, babies, heartbreak and most importantly success. 

Its a shame we all live so far away from each other, literally one person in a completely different place about 20 minutes away from the next place BUT now we have actually finished and we are all secretly distraught we are making a conscious effort to see each other now and instead of rolling up to uni cause we have to and annoying the hell out of each other as we are in each others pockets for 3 long and stressful days straight stuck in the same room - it is much better and so much fun to see each other! 

We had our 'final' night out last Wednesday when we handed in and it was so fun and hilarious! I absolutely loved it, and we are hoping to recreate the same night tonight - though as its planned it probably wont be as great haha!

Here are some pictures of our last few days and last Wednesday!

I cant wait to look back on them with everyone in a few years time full of nostalgia! 

The first two to hand in!!

I love this photo haha!

The joy of selfie sticks.. our group minus meg!

Bottom Left - Jas Jak Stef Lyd Mel Luce Trace (our knight in shining armour.. which is colourful wacky prints and purple hair!) Beccy and Me!

Hand in day! .. One drink at 4pm turned out to be 10 drinks, shots and 1am bedtime! ... and I dont drink haha!

The last thing now - is bring our graduation!

X

Friday Favourites

I want to do a new thing!! (yippeeee)

Every Friday I will do a big post/list of my favourites from that week, it could be recipes, quotes, memories, holidays, pictures, make up, advice, pets etc anything that I have loved that week :)

This is my first week of doing it (obviously) so here is my list;

My fave quote:


Fave birthday idea/treat:

Favourite crafty tip for my fellow sewers, to keep bobbins from unwinding:


Favourite simple but so effective crafty idea for a childrens bedroom:




Let me know what your Friday faves are!!! :)

Dandruff: The taboo subject

I have been wanting to write this for a while now, but not knowing where to start. As I have 3 deadlines on monday and with barely any work to present, this is the perfect time..!!

When someone says the word dandruff, like everyone else I would scrunch up my nose and shake the conversation off pretty quickly. It is associated with dirty smelly people who don't wash their hair. 

However, ever since last year, when a close family friend died and i was under a lot of stress in a horrible job (see blog post "Clintons is shit") I noticed a very small flaky patch on my scalp at the very front, in my parting. I used to try and scratch it out but then the flakes would get stuck in my hair and I could never get them out! Even in shower! The water would just cause them to stick to my hair.

Just as the stress was clearing up and I had left my job, we had our shower fixed but the plumber had fixed the shower on boiling!!! The hot was the colder side of boiling and the cold was SCOLDING! 

Mum being mum (any mum can take on any heat) doesnt realise how hot, to a normal person, the water is!! The patch started to grow and grow and around then I read an article about dandruff and how hot hot hot water can dry your scalp out, therefore create dry, flaky skin. 

I used special shampoo like Head and Shoulders but that just made it 100x times worse!! Which surprised me, it also made my hair AWFUL. Greasy and terribly frizzy and knotty. 

Its gotten so bad that even if my hair line itches I have to tap it as if I even press my nail into the skin, it spilts the top layer of skin and bleeds or just causes lots of flakes!!

So basically, the moral of the story is, dandruff happens to EVERYONE and the cleanest of people may have it and the dirtest people may not.. Also, use a luke warm shower!!

If anyone knows any good brands for dandruff please let me know!! I am dying to try anything and everything! 

X

Liebster Award Nomination

 

 

The point of the LIESTER AWARD is to help new blogs (typically 200 Twitter followers or less but no rules are set in stone…) get their name out there, spread the good word.

The rules are simple- when you get nominated:

) Answer the questions sent to you
2) Nominate 11 bloggers
3) Ask them 11 questions thought of by yourself
4) Notify them that they have been nominated

 

 

I have been nominated by Whipped Green Girl to do this Liebster Award which I am so so super excited about :) I love answering random questions! It really makes you think!

 

 Here are the questions;

 

What was your last Halloween costume?

My last Halloween costume... hmm well Halloween isn't as super big here as it is in America so there aren't really any parties or such to go to, to be able to properly dress up. However I did go out with some friends but only stuck some red devil horns on, and dark makeup which I loved doing. It turns out we were the most dressed up ones out haha so that puts into context how uncelebrated Halloween is!!

You’ve won a trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

I would definitely go back to Disneyland Florida!!! I went 10+ years ago with my mum, dad, two brothers and another close family with two daughters. We rented a HUGE house for us both and it was the best holiday any of us have and probably will ever have! Its still all we go on about. Constantly getting the photos and videos out! And also because I was only 7 ish I was too small to do the big rides like The Hulk etc and Harry P world and the Shrek rides were only just being built so I would love to go back and do all the things we missed out on! 

 

Do you remember the first time you said “I love you” to someone?

Yes.. shamefully I do.. When I was 13 and thought I knew about everything in the world haha!

What haircut/style do you most regret?

I most regret a hairstyle that I had in the last years of school. I am extremely self conscious and had a fringe that went practically from ear to ear. Swept across my face. And because I have ridiculously thin hair, I had to hairspray it until it was SOLID. Annoyingly, just before I realised it was horrible I had my year 11 photos which now haunts me!!!

Pets?

I have two loving dogs - Jack Russells.

Max and Jessie (Jessie the black + white one)

They are truly amazing dogs and I couldn't imagine life without them. Jessie is 17 now and came from a rescue centre where past owners kicked her and put cigarettes out on her and Max, 8, was from a friend who we went to see to visit their puppies and had no intention  of having one, next thing we knew he was in the car on our way home haha!!

I have had Jessie practically all my life and I am dreading her leaving us!

 

First live music concert?

My first concert I think was Blue, when I was maybe 7/8/9? And except festivals etc I think that's been the last concert I have been too aswell haha! Though next March (2015) I am going to see MCBUSTED!!!!!! I am SOOOO excited I think I may cry!! I have loved Busted literally forever!!! I cant believe ill get to sing along to them!

 

What was your first blog article ever?

I cant actually quite remember.. At the start of blogging, a few years ago I created so many blogs and deleted them so it was probably something quite boring haha

 

What’s your favorite candy?

My favourite sweets... hmm. I have a masssssssive sweet tooth and love sweets so everything probably. However I do love the pink & blue bottles? I don't know the name but they are delicious! or anything watermelon.

 

What’s your favorite pair of shoes at the moment?

My favourite shoes are my River Island knee high boots. I love them, they keep my whole legs warm!!

 

What online store do you shop at most?

I rarely online shop but when I do I go straight to ASOS first as it always has free delivery which is a must for me because I am such a skint student!! I personally think all major online shops like Topshop, Missguided etc should do free delivery. We know you can afford too!! And it puts me off paying £20+ for something and having to pay an extra £3.95 to have it delivered??

 

What did you do on your first date?

I have never really been on a first date! I find them incredibly awkward! Though the first 'outing' me and my boyfriend did was go to Frankie & Bennys for lunch which was lovely :)

 

 

 

 

 

I am nominating everyone who reads this and blogs and also my faves;..

 

@_livingwithlucy

 

@BlogBeth

 

@Teapartybeauty

 

@BrubyD

 

@LissyBeautyBlog

 

@little_magpie1

 

 

Here are my questions for you to answer :)

 

1. If you won a million £££ how would you spend it?
2. What has been your fave blog post this year out of all the blogs you read?

3. What cant you wait for in 2015?

4. What are your hobbies?

5. What has been your fave memory from 2014?
6. Do you have any New Years Resolutions?

7. Did  you complete any resolutions from last year?

8. If you could have any 3 course meal - what would it be?

9. Do you have a 5 year plan?

10. Whats your fave thing about Christmas?

11. What have you asked for this Christmas?

 

Enjoy!! :)

xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonfire Night!

I took my poorly Grandma out to a local church bonfire night and it was fabulous!

There was no charge (amazingly) and there was drinks, and free cones of chips and cups of gorgeous homemade spicy pumpkin soup - which is my NEW FAVE!!

The chips! (sorry its blurry I was walking at the same time)

The bonfire!

And the fab fireworks!! It was so lovely to put this on for the community for free!!

I hope everyone else has a lovely bonfire night! :) 

Comment below with what you have planned!

xx

Halloween Party ft Naked 2 Palette

This is my Halloween Party make up!!

I had my foundation etc already done so I started with my contour palette (Sleek £6.99) and added a TINY little bit of black eye shadow in the mix just to make it dark without being ultra orange by layering it up!!

I then used my Naked 2 Palette to create a smokey but warm eye.

I used suspect and snakebite first on the crease.

YDK in the front corner and tearduct.

Tease in the crease.

Verve 3/4 of the way in, just to catch the light and make my eyes look bigger.

Busted in the crease and coming down into the corner.

A TINY bit of black out along the edge of my lashes, to mimic eyeliner.

YDK all over just to blend the colours altogether.

Foxy and BootyCall on brow line to highlight and control the colours.

Half baked along lower lash line to give warmth! 

These lashes are from Primark! £1! They are really good! However the glue is incredibly tricky and took me about 20 minutes to put them on. The best tip I can give is the glue is fab after a few minutes to go tacky on the lashes as they just kept falling off but then when I took my makeup off etc my eyeshadow stuck where the glue had been until the next morning!

This lippy is from Superdrug Revolution, its only £1 aswell! I normally am fond of their bargain brands like MUA but this one is rubbish! It was last minute so I had to buy it anyway but its so slippery and just did not stay on my lips at all! But its a lovely colour regardless of the quality!

These were a rush aswell!! I brought the spider things as a last minute thing but when I got home I found the horns in the cellar which I am super glad about as when I tried the spider ones on again they are so silly looking haha!!

This is the finished result haha! 

Hope everyone has a nice Halloween! :)

Merry Hill Shopping Haul

On Sunday I visited Merry Hill Shopping Centre. I think its near Dudley but i'm not too sure as I just followed the Sat Nav and i am pretty oblivious to anything else haha! 

I don't spend money like your usual 19 year old girl - I love to save!! Its like a extremely satisfying (and obsessing) hobby of mine! So i went hoping to find a good bargain or two! 

Also I hadnt been to Merry Hill in a good 10 years so I wanted to see what it was like and see what Christmas displays they had put up!!

So this is my 'haul', though its a shopping spree to me its probably the average girl's weekly spend haha!

This is my first bargain of the day!! I've needed a plain white loose ish t shirt for a while and I spotted this one in TopShop in the sale for only £8!! (instead of £16) And if you know me you'll know how obsessed I am with eyelash lace! I just love it so much it makes everything look so pretty and delicate! Which I also noticed TopShop are loving at the mo too as a lot of playsuits, dresses and bralets were covered in it!

H&M is one of my fave shops just because its your standard 'everything' shop! It is all so reasonably priced aswell. I go in and I am certain I will come out with something! I spent a while in this shop and spotted a pencil skirt (which youll always find me in) completely covered in multi coloured sequins which I feel in love with but couldnt justify £30 when I could only wear it to go out in :( as I was walking out of the shop I turned and this jumper caught my eye - maybe due to the fact the sequins blinded me - and I just loved it! for only £14.99 I knew I had to get it as itll brighten up any winter outfit and I also needed a simple pull over jumper aswell!

The next shop I went into was the wonderful Primark - I mainly love the Home section rather than the clothes here just because its always such a bargain and they have really improved their quality of products I think. For example the candle above is in the same glass packaging as a small Yankee Candle which I also have (and love) and this candle was 8op and the Yankee Candle is £8.39. Yes the Yankee Candle may last longer but the quality I find is exactly the same, the smell when lit etc. It makes you think how much profit Yankee Candle make when Primark can still make profit on it being 80p. 

I brought this candle as a little present for my mum as it smells of lovely Christmas baking and she loves to light candles whilst cooking. Especially around Winter!

As you can probably tell I am obsessed with buying candles especially bargain ones haha! This candle was only £2 which is amazing so the size and the quality of it! I have it by my side now and it smells amazing, a lovely cosy winter warm smell! Its in a warm red glass case too. I think a small collection of these would be the perfect house warming present for a friend aswell.

My last purchase (except from a few boring pairs of knickers and socks) were these! I had been in River Island and New Look to find a pair of new boots. My feet are slightly odd as one foot is size 4 and one is a size 4 1/2. I couldnt fit in any size 4's but size 5's were too big! Also I didnt really like how big the heels were on the River Island's and New Look's shoes. I didnt like any styles enough to pay £30+ for anyway. I accidentally found this in Primark and because of the elasticated sides I could fit in them with ease! The heels werent too big and the ridged soles grip onto the floor meaning they are perfect snow boots ( please snow this winter!! )

For only £15 I couldnt say no! 

I have a Body Shop Rewards Card so I always quickly pop in to Body Shop whenever I pass, I only have a small one in my town, to see what offers they have on! 

I love their Tea Tree range and already use the Facial wash which I got free with the rewards card as it was my birthday month and they give you a free gift worth up to £5 and the wash was £5! 

http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/loyalty/love-your-body/index.aspx

Due to many colliding offers and my card I got them both for just £10!  The night lotion is good as your body recovers whilst you sleep so having something extra pushing your body to heal is fab! 

Also I love the lip balms but this one is one I had never seen before - lip butter which is much more moisturizing than the normal balms. It also doesnt give any colour which is good if your just after a neutral face!

Again, if you know me you'll know I only own one pair of jeans and they were brought just recently! 

I decided I wanted some jeans as a good plain pair of jeans to go with everything all year long!

These are from New Look and I wasnt really sure what colour I was after. Just that I wanted Skinny ones. These fitted me the best but now I have got them home I think they are maybe too blue? Im not too sure. Maybe/hopefully they will fade after a few washes!!

These were £24.99!

My wedding dress photo shoot!

 

The first ever wedding dress I have made!! This is the photo shoot for my University course portfolio! I wanted to go for a English boho garden party theme when I designed/made the dress, and the same with the photo shoot, hence the flower head band, wild flower bouquet and sea salted hair. 

I did this photo shoot in my garden when it was forecasted horrendous storms and rain so I wasn't feeling to excited for it, I also tried looking around the garden for flowers to go in the bouquet but all the ones I wanted weren't really suitable to hold the stems of. However my fab mum presented me with ^^ that bouquet in the morning which I was soooo happy with it is exactly what I wanted I don't know how she found all those flowers!!

Also, by the morning the weather had brightened up and my friend Anna was round! She has the most perfect hair for this type of theme and the dress fitted her like a glove! The top picture is my absolute favourite and I think that was one of the first shots I had got! As soon as I started snapping away I got instantly excited for it as they all looked absolutely brill (and it helps having such a gorgeous model). I found it so hard nailing the final few down, I should only really have one but I just cant decide between 5!! But I suppose that's better than not having one at all that I like!!

xo

 

 

I have made my first ever wedding dress!!

  My end of year final design was based on the brief 'Floral/Geometric'.

 

This was so difficult to cater for bridal but after hours of designing and changing ideas I finally came up with this. This brief also stated that it had to have embroidery on. I designed an A-Symmetric neckline with a front panel going across the bust and a simple flared skirt.

An attached cape beaded and embroidered in floral patterns and trimmed with tiny (tiny!!) beads that took me 5 hours to sew on :(

The dress is completely backless, allowing the embroidery to lay on the bare skin. The dress also has a small gather over the bum to add to detail.

The small tiny beads that were so sewn on around the edge, as well as 'crackle glass' beads sewn onto the cape. A close up of the embroidery, the photos don't do it justice as its a shiny metallic thread and glistening beads.

I am really happy with the over all result of this dress as I always seem to have a better image in my head of what it is going to look like, than what I can actually do! However this dressed turned out, pretty much exactly how I wanted it!! Either I have low standards now or I have dramatically improved haha!:D



Candice Swanepoel Victoria's Secret After Party!

A quick illustration whilst looking at the Victoria's Secret After Party last year. I have used pencil and water colours, and have changed the hair slightly as I wouldnt of been able to get the hairstyle right as little hair is shown in the picture. I also left the face out as I struggle enough as it is with faces, let alone trying to get it to look like a actual person and just a made up one.