Clothes & Shoes!

I feel like my heart really isn't in blogging at this moment in time; I haven't bothered to read hardly any of the ones I follow and I honestly am drawing a blank at what to even write about myself. I don't know why; it's just a blip....I'm not feeling myself really at the moment, I'm sure within a few weeks I will be back blogging more than I am right now...

I got the new Style magazine in todays post which is Dorothy Perkins monthly (I think) magazine and I think it is pret-ty good. I actually looked at their newsletter today when it pinged into my inbox, I usually skip it; I tend to just skip my emails and mark them read then after about three months go through and see everything. One upside to this is if I don't look for ages by the time I look at the fashion newsletters the stuff I want is on sale, especially with ASOS! Anyway there is quite a good few bits in Dorothy Perkins at the moment, great Autumn clothes and colours and I'm SO excited - Autumn is without a doubt my favourite season, followed by Winter and this time of year gets me so geared up! I'm loving all the purple things this year and bright pink seems to be in also which is always good, I'm a pink girl at heart! I took a few bits from the website to show you what I really want to order...but I have to be good, I'm flat hunting and trying to get my brain around the fact that when I move out I won't be able to spend half my wage on pay day..I won't even have half of it left for myself...boooo. :(

Feel free to purchase things for me and send them my way peeps!!!

Pink check shirt, £25

Silver stud shoulder tunic, £30

Black dogtooth bubble coat, £70

Grey cape with neon flash, £30

Then onto the knitwear accessories which have got me pretty excited...

I just like this because I can imagine having nicely blonded hair and the pink against it with the black coat and a pink bag... not sure the style would suit me though, there are lots of lovely slouchy berets on the site though that are worth a look...

Pink Oversized Beanie, £12

I love these snoods so much I want one in three colours - they are gorgeous and look so warm!

Rib Supersoft Snood, various colours, £12

And then onto the best part, shoes :D

The top ones are actually Topshop but I saw them a few weeks ago and I want to buy them so much! The other two are DP - ruffle shoes always remind me of Sex and the City, in my all time favourite episode, I Heart NY, when Carries buys those pink shoes, is it just me.... and the boots at the bottom are gorgeous..they do them in black too, I want them as well... I don't buy man shoes any more so I think I should treat myself!!

Topshop, £65

Black Frill T Bar Shoes, (in the sale too!!) £35 down from £55

Purple Suedette Stud Ankle Boots, £42

xXx

Cosy ♥

As Autumn has officially arrived, my toes are in dire need of a pair of cosy, warm, snuggly boots like these.

When Ugg Boots first came out I hated them. I thought they were so ugly, and I couldn't stand that front part of the boot. But then after a few years I needed some. I don't know where the obsession came from but within a month I had bought a pair and lived in them all Winter(Although I hate that you want to wear them in Winter to keep warm but you can't wear them most of it because of the rain, and the boots are suede so they can't really get wet....). I walk inwards though, and because of this eventually I was walking around looking like those chavs that wear them and they are all slouchy and sloppy - do you know what I mean? I was basically walking on the floor on the actual boot bit, not the sole...if that makes sense? So they had to go in the bin and I decided I couldn't really justify buying a new pair for £140+ when they weren't going to last as long as other boots I had...also I didn't think they were doing me any good me walking like that. I did mentally add a pair to my wishlist, the wishlist that I never get around to purchasing anything from...

I was browsing the ASOS sale at the beginning of the year and spotted some Emu boots that were pretty cheap (can't remember how much now, only about £30) and bought them as a substitute. I think they're more sturdier than Ugg Boots, the harder part on the sole is stronger than on Uggs, but I haven't got as much use out of them as I did my Uggs because they are the small ones - I preferred the taller ones.

Anyway, the point of this post is A, that I really want some tall new cosy boots, and B, that if you click the picture you can find out how you can win a pair from Whooga Ugg Boots. ETA: OK, I don't know how to do the link so you can click the picture, so you'll have to click here instead.

xXx

Fresh Prince of Bel Air

This just had me in tears!

I feel like I want to spend the day watching US TV now...

Fablera

I got the word fablera on a word verification at the weekend when leaving a comment on someones blog and I thought it was brilliant! It's like fabulous...but a cooler version of it ;)

So I thought I'd do a quick post of all the things that are pretty 'fablera' at this moment in time...

Messy Updos

I have been SO lazy recently when it comes to my hair. I have hardly even brushed it. I have to wash it every day but my routine pretty much goes something like this: Wash hair Sunday night. Towel dry. Sleep. Wake up, tie up into messy big ponytail/bun and make all bouffy. Fast forward to the end of the Monday night, and it just repeats itself all week. Brushing it would make it frizzy and I don't want that but this means when I do get around to brushing it it is a humongous matter MESS. I actually washed and dried my hair for the first time in about two weeks today and I swear half my hair was on the floor after. Does anyone else have the problem with absolutely loads of hair coming out when they brush it? Why does it do this?

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Plumping Glosses

I know I've already mentioned these in previous posts but I really, really, truly love them. I have really dry lips and I swear, since using these my lips are in the best condition of their lives. Well, apart from perhaps before I started putting rubbish on them all the time, but you know what I mean. So smooth and nice! One of my main problems when using lipsticks, especially ones like Darling (Gosh) is that when I apply them they just look ridiculous and flaky, even if I have put something on under them, and I am going to try out this week if using them now I have super smooth smackeroonies it makes a difference.

Slimming World/Losing Weight

image taken from here

I joined Slimming World two weeks ago and lost 4 1/2 pounds in my first week and three in my second. I'm really pleased and am enjoying watching what I eat, because I have been going off the rails pre diet! I have a long way to go and I'm not saying that I'm not going to have a bad week because I know that I will (I'm covering my back, I have this feeling I'm going to be saying to you all on Thursday ooppsssss....) but I guess anything is better than eating rubbish constantly isn't it. :)

Red Bull



It's official. I'm a Red Bull addict. I'm a Pepsi addict and I have been for a long time, but out of nowhere, Red Bull has jumped up and is whooping Pepsi's ass. I don't know who to stay loyal to. I love them both!

Foundation



I am so pale at the moment and my skin is terrible. Without make up, it is blotchy, red, dry, awful. This pains me muchly - I never have bad skin. I've always had good skin, the odd spot but nothing major. I guess my fair share has come all at once, a late 23rd birthday present. Thanks! So at the moment I can't bear the thought of not wearing make up, especially foundation. I seriously had to avoid mirrors today I feel so strongly about this. I look awful and I was going to just put a little bit on but I refrained, I thought staying out of the mean mirrors way was better than suffocating my skin when it didn't need to be. I actually wondered whether it was the MAC making this happen - I've never used MAC before and it is pretty heavy, I usually just wear a light liquid foundation and maybe a bit of powder and it is since the change. I need to give it a break. I'll still leave it up here though.

Hope your Monday's have been fablera! xoxo

Books Glorious Books

I am an avid reader and have always been interested in reading. As a little girl I had loads of books lining my two bookshelves in my room, most notably Famous Five, Secret Seven, Sweet Valley High (♥) and The Babysitters Club. I hated at school when reading was thought of as a bit geeky and boring and truth be told it winds me up now when people are a bit :/ about it. My wish list on Amazon is over 20 pages long, full of books and DVDs that I want and although I am currently inactive on it, I have raved about Read It Swap It loads of times. I am trying to work my way through the wish list swapping books for ones I want, but when I couldn't fit any more on my bookshelf I thought I'd better have a break whilst I got through them. Now I have so many books lying around waiting to be re-listed on RISI I really need to get a move on and read more so they I can get swapping again!! It doesn't help though when I decide I need books like this NOW...

I bought these three yesterday - 3 for 2 at Waterstones people - and I know (I hope) that I will love them. I've been excited for True Blood since forever and am ashamed I have only just picked up the books! I don't want to watch the TV show yet though - I think I will wait till it comes on DVD here. I read it will be on Channel 4 soon? But then there will be the ad breaks...and we know I love a good box set!!

I finally finished Alphabet Weekends this weekend (!) - I have been reading this for ages it seems and just couldn't get to the end so I made myself read it this weekend amongst tidying my room - tidy a drawer, read a chapter! - and in the end I gave up the tidying to finish it. I loved the ending though I did think it was a bit predictable but that doesn't mean I didn't like it! I want to do the A - Z with someone now though!

I was going to finish it last weekend but I left it at work so I picked up another book I had been wanting to read for a while:

...and it didn't disappoint! I picked this up a few months ago because I love all things New York and then I found out the author is the same person who blogs on Beauty Mecca. The only bad thing about this book is that it has made me just want to up and leave and go to NYC! I am so desperate to go back there and I really want to just book a ticket and leave. I really recommend this book! Has anyone else read this?

I thought I would just add in some of my favourite authors/books - I haven't included my Twilight books, which are pretty damn thumbed through I must say, and Harry Potter ones, or my most favourite book of all - Where Rainbows End by Cecilia Ahern. I have read this SO many times I cannot tell you - I have a tendency to pick it up every Winter and read it. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it makes me feel warm inside - and I love it. If you haven't read it I obviously recommend it!!

I love Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic range so much that I cannot bring myself to watch the film of the first one. I prefer the first books though, I think they got a bit boring towards the end of them - I'm not sure whether she is going to be making any more. I read Remember Me recently and loved it and can't wait to read Twenties Girl, it sounds brilliant! Favourite from these? Would have to be the first book, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic.

I have mentioned this in the past but while I was taking photos of my other books I spotted this again and thought another mention wouldn't hurt. See what I said before about it here.

Marian Keyes is one of my favourite authors and I own or have read all her books (I'm sure I own them all in this picture) I love the series she does about the family, that being Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, Angels and Anybody Out There - these were the first and bottom books on here and the Polaroid thingy has cut them off. I love Watermelon! I have read The Other Side of the Story loads but not for a while, maybe it's time to get it back out.
Christina Jones writes a series of books that all revolve around the same village, characters and are a bit witchey. I have this thing where I have to read them every Halloween/Autumn because they make me so excited for this time of year!! I can't wait to read them this year!! There is one more that I don't own - Heaven Sent, which I might have to buy in time for me re-reading this year.

What is everyone elses favourite reads, or have you read any of mine?

xXx

Receiving Post

I think we all love nothing more than arriving home after a rubbish, hard day's work to find a package waiting for us, especially when it is make up or clothes, or shoes or DVDs, or books or anything!

I was really pleased recently to win the contest that Coco Bella held and my goodies arrived this morning..

I won...

St Moriz tanning mousse. After having heard so many reviews on this I'm excited to try it out, especially now Winter seems to have arrived! (YAY!)

I've always wanted to try NYX products, I have a long list that I want but it isn't available to buy in the UK (well, I know I can order online but I've never got round to it). This is 'Goddess of the Night' , Lip gloss with mega shine and on the back it says 'Pink Frost'. I put it on today and tried to take a piccie but it looks rank so I won't be posting that one... LOL

And this my friends is my first OPI nail varnish. It is a Sephora by OPI and called Dark Night. I am currently wearing my Barry M Emerald Green polish so haven't used this yet but the colour on the picture is pretty much how it is IRL.

Thank you very much to Coco Bella once again xxxxx

Grr!

I have always had really bad eyesight and have had to wear glasses since about the age of 12 I think. I absolutley detest wearing them and always have - I really wish I had a photo of my old glasses to show you, I used to keep them all purely to laugh at because they were nasty. When I was about 17 I discovered contact lenses and ahhhhhhhh life was better. I don't know if this is just me, but being able to wear contacts completley transformed my life. I am way more confident in them and I feel so much better looking in them.

About two years ago I was wearing contacts pretty much every day, from about 7 till midnight, and I got a very lovely ulcer on my pupil. Niceeeeeeeeeee. The hospital told me I couldn't wear contacts for about three months and then when I finally could begin again I couldn't wear them as much as I used to do or it would happen again and they wouldn't let me wear contact lenses anymore. My life would be over!!! I bought some chic Dior glasses and changed my scheme with Vision Express to a lower amount of contacts. The scheme that they do - I think it is called Grand Advantage, but I may be wrong - is paying a certain amount of money each month, you get your contacts and also eye tests and aftercare included so you don't need to pay more for that, and they also knock £80 off any frames for you which is quite handy if you like the more designer glasses.

Now almost two years have passed since the ulcer indicent I have wanted to wear my contacts more so have been looking into how much more that will cost me... and I have been getting increasingly pissed off to say the least with them, questioning the scheme I am on. I pay £18 a month and I only get 10 pairs of contact lenses for that. The last pair of glasses I bought were in October 2007 and to be honest, £80 off frames meants nothing to me - I'm so bloody blind that I wind up paying over £300 for a pair of glasses anyway becuase the lenses are so much. To change to getting 30 pairs a month, I would have to pay £42 a month! I couldn't believe how ridiculous that was. I decided that I would have to have a think about what to do (i.e. source other opticions etc) but in the meantime asked them to leave me a box of contacts (15 pairs) to pick up as I had run out. I sent my brother to get them and she tried to charge him £80+! He thought this didn't sound right so rang me, and it turned out she was trying to give him my entire three months supply - WTF would I be buying a three months supply when I am due my next three months supply in the next month? I rang Specsavers and got some prices from them.

I ran out of contacts again last week so had to go out of my way to pick more up last night. When I got there, despite their being a member of staff dealing with a customer in the same room as me it still took her 15 minutes to go and get another employee to serve me. The women that served me was totally uninterested, gave me a box of contacts and passed me to someone else to pay. When I opened them this morning I found a box of contacts the completley wrong prescription! To say I am mad, pissed off and f*cking angry is an understatement. I wasn't planning on going home tonight or tomorrow and now I am going to have to go out of my way to sort this mess out. I had already put these contacts in before I realised (my prescription is -5.75 and these are -5.00) and I can't see a damn thing! I nearly got knocked over on my way to work because I couldn't see the driver of a car - perhaps I should have checked they were right before I paid for them but since I have been on -5.75 lenses for over a year, I would presume they knew what they were doing.

I am so mad that I have to take time out of my day now meaning I will have to owe work time to sort this all out. In August and September I have spent £75 on contacts and it is just ludicrous!

I need you to help! I am going to cancel the direct debit when I see them today so I need my UK girls to give me some heads up on where they go, how much you pay etc etc etc. I'm anti Boots so thats a no no, I am going to try Specsavers and there is no D&Aitchinson (can't remember the name of it!!) near me so thats out too. PLEASE help me!!!

Either leave a comment or if you can offer any more advice send me an email ------>

Love, a mad me! xxx

Forever Strong

Two of the items in the Maybelline goodie bag we received last week were nail enamels, one from each range Maybelline stock. Forever Strong Professional in Midnight Blue, and Express Finish Shock Control in Cherry. I took these photos pretty late so they're a bit rubbish, which is why I've included the swatches from the website.

Express Finish Shock Control

The great thing that I loved about this polish was the fact that it does dry in less than a minute. In the bottle it looks a very strong red but on it is more like its name, cherry-ish. I think it's a pretty good Autumn colour, I like deeper reds for Winter! The product states that that it is chip resistant but I have found the tips of my nails are very chipped already, with it being such a bright colour it is really noticable. And it's not like I have done much since I applied it, thumbed through some mags, tidied a drawer and watched DVDs (what can I say, I like lazy weekends) so I don't know what it would be like after a week of work (I'm a secretary, so constantly on the computer). I do however love the colour and the fact it does dry so fast so I would buy this in more colours. To see the full range of swatches click here. 6/10

Forever Strong Professional

I haven't actually tried this one, the hands above are courtesy of my Mum. The colour is gorgeous and I think it will be fab for toes. My Mum has the same complaint as me re chipping of colour so I don't think Maybelline polishes are great for long term, unless you want to keep reapplying the colour. I have quite a few dark blue polishes and I think this might be my new favourite, it's kind of a denimy blue? Full range of colours here. The 'Extreme Blackcurrent' colour looks like it might need to be in my collection... 5/10

xoxo

Maybelline

This Thursday was the Maybelline Beauty Bloggers Event at L'Oreal Headquarters in London. I was really excited to be invited, a little more that The Body Shop Event because I knew what to expect this time whereas I was pretty scared and nervous for The Body Shop!

I travelled down with Daisy, Victoria, Helen , Kelly and Karen and we got to London and met up with some other bloggers and made our way to L'Oreal. Once we had signed in and got our badges we went up to the room the event was being held in and had some drinks and cakes :)

After that a presentation was held by three lovely ladies who talked about the newest Maybelline products, Pulse Perfection and Colour Sensation, as well as their other, most loved, long standing products. Over the years I have tried various Maybelline products - their Dream Mousse foundation and blush to name a few, and I have always known about other items they sell, such as Great Lash Mascara. Although I remember this as far back as being 13 I have actually never tried it!

I just wanted to add a small paragraph about something that is beginning to get slightly tedious, and which myself and some others spoke about on the day. I think a lot of people are getting a tad too expectant of these events and are far more enjoying going for the free make up and slating it all at the end of the event - getting on their high horse a bit if you know what I mean. At the end of the day these are events which some bloggers would give anything to be invited to, and who I know would go purely for the event itself and to meet their friends rather than go and slag a company off. Companies are paying for a number of us to travel down, putting food and drink on, presentations and slide shows etc, make up tables for us and make up artists, and for some people to go and just complain that the presentation was rubbish, get their freebies and basically eff off leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Then to review the products that a company has generously given us and say it is pretty much all shit is just really ungrateful. I fully understand that some products are not as good as others etc etc, but I don't think there is any need to be so...I don't even know the word for it, it's a bit spoilt brattish, a bit trying to be controversial...I don't know. Some of the reviews I have read from the Illamasqua Event in London sound shocking. If you know you aren't going to like the event, the products and only moan then at least have the sense to decline your invitation and save it for the people who really want to go.

Anyway, back to the niceties...After the presentation we received our two goodie bags and were free to wander round, chatting to other bloggers and the reps. Here a few pics I took of the afternoon!

Me and Sadie...finally get to meet after what feels like years of talking!!

Victoria and Daisy!

Me and Nicola


Daisy getting her make up done by one of the two make up arists on hand!


Nicola getting her make up done!

Victoria getting hers also!

Phoebe on the tube after the event was over!

Daisy, Victoria and Nicola on the tube

We got a pretty large goodie bag - two, actually! I have sorted these out and am not going to include them on this post here, I will speak about them separately and review them. There are a few bits which do not suit me nor my Mum so I will be giving them away at a later date.

It was lovely to see all the girls again, and meet some new people who I haven't seen before! Can't wait to see you all again - and can all us Yorkshire girls arrange a meet up at some point?!

xoxo

Winners!

I have so many posts that I want to do and I can't because my laptop wire has broken again. I am using my Dad's PC but I hate it - I can't type properly!

My contest ended on Friday and my friend has just picked the two winners out of a hat!

First Prize

The first winner of my prize goes to ...... *drumroll* ....

RHIANNE!

Second Prize

LISA!

Congratulations to both lovely girlies - if you can email me with your details to golden_touch2320@hotmail.co.uk please.

Thanks to all that entered.

xXx

♥ Contest, Cinema, Nandos ♥

The lovely Just Jen is having a fantastic giveaway! Just look at the lovely prizes she is giving to one lucky person...

To enter this contest please check out her blog HERE!

I am going to see this tonight...

and eat this...

and have lots of laughs :)

{picture perfect}