Autumn Polishes - Brownie by Sephora

I may be a little premature starting this but I thought I would do some swatches of the colours I will be reaching for this autumn. I know its only August but its hard not to think of Fall when the AW clothes are in the shops and the fashion mags are featuring new AW 10 collections!

Brownie by Sephora

I adore brown shades on my nails. It seriously makes me happy!

I am still searching for the perfect brown, not too light or too dark, no pinky or red tones, I'm hoping it will appear this season as browns seem to be in many new nail varnish collections.

I purchased this in France, so I'm sorry to all the UK girls, I know we are so frustrated we have no Sephora!

This was two coats, it applied so nicely. No streaks or cuticle drag, which can often happen with dark colours and you get a lighter streak at the bottom the nail.

My brush has a few wayward fibres which meant a little bit of tidying up to do. This is the only polish I have from them so I don't know if that is common, could be a rogue! 

Do you have any milky chocolate brown suggestions for me?!

xoxo

Going to the Dark side!

Since coming back from holiday I have noticed a lot of the Autumn fashions and makeup collections around in the shops.

All of these warm wintery colours are making me crave dark polishes!

Seriously I am becoming obsessive!

I have my fair share of dark polishes all ready but have only worn them a handful of times. I like to wear bright light colours especially in the summer!

My predictions for the winter will be that dark polishes will be huge and I think they will come in many shades not just the usual plum and black.

Navy

Chocolate

Khaki

Steel

Mulberry

Teal

These are some of the colours I expect to be wearing this winter and I'm excited!

On a polish swatching picture binge last night, I decided to seekout Essie's A/W 2010 collection to see if any announcements had been made!

Success!

This is Essie's Fall for Fashion 2010 collection. I love it!

In Stitches – cheeky blush pink

Limited Addiction – Racy Garnet red

Sew Psyched – soft sage pewter

Merino Cool – sensuous autumn mulberry

Velvet Voyeur – intense chocolate amethyst

Little Brown Dress – beguiling black coffee

It has some of the colours I have predicted and some are named after fabrics that will be everywhere in winter fashion like velvet and merino wool.

They will be available from September.

Thanks to Chic Profile for the info!

What do you think of my predictions? Am I right? Will you be wearing these colours?

xoxo

My First MAC Palette!

I finally depotted my MAC shadows! 

Look how pretty!

I clearly like browns and neutrals!

From L-R

♥ Retrospeck

♥ Patina

♥ Mulch

♥ Tempting

♥ Sumptuous Olive

♥ Woodwinked

♥ Honesty

♥ Satin Taupe

♥ Silver Ring

♥ Forgery

♥ Swimming

♥ Humid

♥ Pink Venus

♥ Can't remember! It was from a recent collection!

♥ Creme De Violet

I have few more but I need another palette!

xoxo

L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel

This shower gel smells so delicious I could drink it up!

L'Occitane's Verbena Shower Gel may only be a simple shower gel but I am totally obsessed with it!

It has a wonderful scent and smells very citrusy, its a very strong scent however I don't find it lasts on the skin. The powerful fragrance really wakes you up in the morning!

It leaves my skin soft and I have no reaction to it, I often do with shower gels.

There is a whole range of Verbena products from L'Occitane and I would be very interested in trying them out, including the fragrance in the range. Heres the link! The shower gel costs £12.50.

I like L'Occitane as a brand, they often use organic ingredients where possible and use sustainable resources. They also used recycled packaging. They even use recycled furniture in their offices and an electric car for journeys between factories!

Blue My Mind by H&M

I have nearly bought this colour from H&M so many times! It's so vivid it all ways catches my eye when I'm shopping.

I have to admit I'm a bit of a nail polish snob and prefer the well known brands, however I threw my snobbery out of the window and put in my basket!

I love it! It's such a bright blue, I have nothing like it!

It applied well, this was two coats and it only cost £2.99! I'll see how it wears then I may check out some of the other colours in the range.

xoxo

Wedding Outfit Update!

A little while ago I posted about a dress and shoes I wanted to wear for a wedding party.

Well the wedding was last weekend and I thought I'd show you my outfit on!

Shona looked stunning! 

The dress is from Monsoon Fusion, I had to wear leggings as it was too short for me, I was worried that the leggings would make it too casual but it didn't and I didn't have to worry about flashing anyone! 

I saved the pink shoes for the wedding and I absolutely love them! Perfect height, perfect colour and I felt glam in them! Everyone loved them!

I had only got back from holiday the day before so my tan was good and looked amazing on my legs with the pink shoes!

I took a black beaded clutch also from Monsoon and wore a pink Swarovksi bracelet with earrings in the same colour.

I wore my usual face make up but used Humid eyeshadow to pick out the green in my dress and I wore Lady GaGa lipstick. I had Nails Inc Shoreditch on my nails which is a hot pink similar to the shoes.

I had such a fab night and I felt really glam! 

Congratulations to Shona and Owen too!

xoxo

Holiday Polishes

While I was packing for my little holiday my biggest dilemma, apart from taking too many clothes, was choosing which polishes to take! 

I couldn't take too many but I couldn't rule too many out!

This was my final selection.

I think I covered all bases!

However I have to admit I only wore a couple of them! 

I went wearing OPI You Don't Know Jaques so took the bottle for top ups and repairs. I wore that for a few days until I got paint all over my hands from decorating the house!

Then I switched to OPI Shorts Story. Its such a pretty pink and it goes/tones/clashes nicely with so many if my clothes. When I say clashes I mean, I had a turquoise top on so the pink is opposite but in a good way!

Then finally I used OPI Hot and Spicy to travel home in!

I only changed my toe polish once. I wore Nails Inc Spring Mews almost the whole time!

Again it tones or clashes with the taupe and the pink I wore and looked fab with my pink Birkenstocks that I wore loads!

I only changed it on the last day to Number Seven 60's Mini Skirt, the cream colour, to go with the orange of the Hot and Spicy.

Well that was my holiday in nail varnish form! I thought I'd be more inclined to change my polish but I wasn't!

What would be your holiday polish must haves?

xoxo

OOTD!

Hey! A little OOTD for you!

A simple outfit but I love it!

White Skirt from Monsoon

Blue Tee, Navy Vest and Floral scarf all from H&M, and purchased today!

Silver bangle.

Gold bangle from Accessorize.

I love the colours together, quite summery, and I love the vintage style scarf!

The tail belongs to Bramble, not me!

Holiday Haul and a Few Snaps!

Hey Guys!

I'm back from my hols! I had a wonderful time, I just love spending time with my family, there are almost no other people in the world I would rather be with! I went to the south of France and I happened to have my birthday while I was away.

My parents have renovated a house in the south about an hour from Toulouse.

The house was just signed off this week! So we went to start decorating and painting shutters.

We arrived on Bastille Day and saw the most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen!

Le Tour De France came through a nearby village so we went to have a look.

It was all over in 5 minutes but I'm glad I saw it all!

Market day in the local town.

My birthday cake!

I bought a few things from MAC at the airport.

I bought a blotting powder in Light, its a translucent powder and gives no colour. I wanted to get this instead of always using my MSF as I don't always need to re-touch my actual make up, it works but I am a little underwhelmed. I don't like the powder puff it comes with so I have had more success with using my kabuki brush.

I bought Well Dressed blusher. It swatched really nicely on my hand and I used it the first day of my holiday but I didn't really feel the colour came out on my cheeks. Maybe it'll show up a little better on paler skin towards the winter, I'll give it another chance then!

Finally on a whim I purchased a Plushglass in Pretty Plush. I just bought it as I liked the colour I didn't realise they were different to normal Lipglasses until I put it on and felt the tingle of the lip plumping ingredients! It was a surprise!! I had no idea MAC did this type of product!

I lost my favourite ever sunglasses while I was away, within the first few days! I was gutted! I couldn't continue my holiday without any so I had to buy some!

In France they sell sunglasses in opticians and they are usually high end brands. I couldn't justify spending a lot knowing I had two perfectly good pairs at home, however these had 60% off! Bargain! They don't mess around with designer brands in France so I know they are for real, they were 120 euros and I got them for 48! There were no high street shops in the local town and I didn't go to Toulouse until midway through the second week and I couldn't wait that long, I don't want to encourage any wrinkles around the eyes!

Speaking of Toulouse they have a Sephora! I had to go! It didn't seem to be have as much as the stateside stores but I had to buy something with Sephora on it!

So I bought a Sephora brand nail polish in Brownie. They didn't have the OPI for Sephora there, *sadface* Everything else I felt I could get in the UK, and the exchange rate isn't good enough to go mad!

Finally my birthday pressie was a beautiful silver bangle

I love it! It's so simple but very pretty on, its a little big so it goes all the way up my arm but I don't mind that!

So that was two weeks in a nutshell! I'm going back in September and I cannot wait!

Have you had your holiday yet?

xoxo

I Like Gooold!

I just got this bag in the Boden sale!

It was reduced from £99 to £39, I loved it when I first saw it but was not going to pay £99 for it! So I snapped it up in the sale!

It's not a big as the website had me believe but I like the size, it's big but its manageable!

It'll be a great holiday bag, but I'm going to use it for work tomorrow as I love it so much!

xoxo

John Frieda Go Blonder Shampoo

Until recently I had always been a blonde. 

For a long time a natural then as I got a little older it started to fade and became mousey and a bit blah!

I still have a naturally lighter tone to my hair but I now have highlights, which are stating to fade.

Now we are in summer I really want a sun-kissed glow to my hair so I headed to Boots for some products.

I'd intended to buy a dye or a wash out colour but saw the John Frieda Go Blonder shampoo's and conditioner's on offer. I had seen the adverts so I was aware of the product. I wasn't sure how it could be different to the Sheer Blonde range that I used to use as a blondie.

As far as I can tell the original range of Sheer Blonde has peroxide and ammonia to help lighten your hair. I had amazing results with this range back in the day but it was too good, it bleached my hair!

The Go Blonder range uses citrus and chamomile to lighten the hair. We have all heard of putting lemon juice on your hair to highlight, I am not recommending this btw! The shampoo certainly has a lemony scent and colour, its a pearlescent yellow.

I have used this for just over a week now and I am very impressed. I have a noticeable lighter tone to my hair, I think this is a combination of the shampoo and we actually have sunshine here at the moment and I have spent a lot of time in the sunshine. I hope the citrus elements of the shampoo and the sunshine are working together!

My hair is soft and bouncy and sun-kissed as promised! 

I didn't get the conditioner at the time as had just purchased a new bottle of my trusty Label M Honey and Oat, but I will be buying the conditioner next!

xoxo

Product Of The Moment!

I'm so happy we have had consistent hot sunny weather here in the UK! 

I've been making the most of the sunshine and spending as much time in the garden as I can. I also have my holiday coming up and am in preparation for that.

I am not a huge fan of fake tan, not the look, just the application, the inconsistency and the pressure of getting it right. I am fair and I burn very easily I ALWAYS wear factor 30 in the sun and apply regularly. 

In preparation for a natural tan I have been applying Elemis Tan Accelerator.

It promises to help the skin prepare for exposure to the sun and helps to encourage your skins melanin, which is the natural pigment in your body that gives you a tan.

I apply this mainly in the evening and if I have time in the morning. I have been almost religious about this over the last two or three weeks usually I give up on moisturising. 

I have stuck with this because it really works!

The product contains, Shea butter, Jojoba, Macadamia Nut Oil and Vitamin E. Elemis suggest applying  the lotion about two weeks before your holiday or throughout the summer, and it can be used after your holiday to help prolong your tan. 

I have got the best colour I have ever had. I am convinced it's down to using this product. I haven't had that much sun, maybe three or four days in the last three weeks and I have used a factor 30, but I have a lovely colour.

The product has a natural brown hue to the lotion but is not a self tanner. I think that the lotion encourages the melanin to come to the surface of the skin alone is helping with my tan.

I highly recommend this product I will certainly use it next year and over the next few summer months.

It costs £19 from Elemis direct or it can be purchased from John Lewis, QVC or various salons and spas. I bought mine as part of a set from QVC.

xoxo

Bringing a little SATC glam into my life!

I went to see Sex And The City 2 this week, I bloomin loved it!

So glam, total escapism and fabulous outfits!

I couldn't help but notice the nails the girls were sporting, particularly Samantha. She has some amazing falsies adorned with crystals and jewels and I spotted a bit of Minx in there too.

One manicure that really stood out for me was in a scene when they were at dinner in the hotel.

Samantha had black nails with a stunning shiny chrome gold moon at the bottom.

I have tried to re-create that look!

I hope you can make it out, I couldn't get it to photograph well, click the picture and it will be bigger.

I applied Orly's Luxe all over the nail, wait for it to dry properly.

Then with a steady hand apply two coats of a black polish, I used Chanel's Black Satin, a little higher than you would normally to show off the gold band at the bottom. Take your time here, you don't want to mess up the gold coat.

Then apply a high gloss top coat, I used Nails Inc Albert Bridge.

I really love it! The gold catches the light subtly enough to notice its not just a black nail.

If I do it again, I may leave a thicker band of gold at the bottom as I love the flash of gold so much!

What do you think, will you give it a go?

xoxo

John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo and Conditioner

I have been noticing a lot of hair falling out of my head recently, I know that your hair has a seven year cycle and changes occur, my Mums hair for example went curly almost overnight!

I've put it down to weightloss and this seven year cycle, but I'm not going to lie, it worries me.

Anyway I thought I would try some new shampoo to help a healthy folicle! John Frieda has just launched a new Root Awakening range.

John Frieda says,

Your Wake Up Call For Tired Weak Hair

Infused with natural Eucalyptus, Root Awakening® shampoos, conditioners, and Leave in Spray nourish hair from root to tip. Get stronger, more manageable hair in just 7 days.  

Sounds good right?!

I thought I'd try the shampoo and conditioner together. 

It smells minty and has a different texture to "normal " shampoo, it definitely thicker. The conditioner has the same scent and it is of a thicker consistency too.

I certainly noticed a difference in lift at the root of my hair and my hair was very soft and bouncy. However it was a little too soft for me to be able to curl my hair, the curl would just drop out after a couple of hours. My Mum used the shampoo and conditioner and it did wonders for her coarse thick curly hair! Her hair curled very easily naturally without a diffuser which she would normally use.

I do feel that after prolonged use my hair would be healthy straight from the root. Although I didn't notice a difference in hair loss but this was never one of the features of this system.

Have you tried it?

xoxo

80's OOTN!

I thought I'd share my outfit from the other night! 

I went to a friends hen party, she's getting married in a month, and she chose the theme of 80's.

I did stress about getting an outfit together, but I'm pleased with what I ended up with! 

I went with a ra-ra skirt and leggings, then a dark grey top with a neon green vest underneath.

Fingerless lace gloves and neon bangles.

I didn't have to search around for these items, there is a combo of New Look and H&M there.

Shoes were bright pink courts from boohoo.com.

I'll probably wear these again, they were surprisingly comfy!

Yes, I crimped my hair!

However it looked so awful down, I had to tie it back!

It just looked like a fried mess! Crimping can stay in the 80's!

I believe the style is coming back though, it was featured in the new Sex and the City film and a few celebs have sported the look recently, not sure I'll be following.

I bought the crimper from Topshop.

Makeup was the usual but with lots of blusher not that you can tell, but there was more than enough on those cheeks! Then I used lots of Lady GaGa lipstick, and China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy neon nail polish.

Here are a few of us!

There was lots of neon and a few dodgy wigs! We even went to an 80's nightclub!

xoxo

New Clothes and Shoes!

So I cannot seem to buy enough clothes at the moment!

I guess as I've lost weight I'm enjoying my clothing more!

♥ Top from Monsoon - I love this it has little sequins on it and is silk

♥ Shoes from Accessorize

♥ Top from H&M from the Fashion Against AIDS collection

♥ Scarf from Miss Selfridge

Both items are not my normal style but I've seen many people wear a skull scarf with 'girly' things!

♥ Shoes from Clarks - I'll save these for the winter!

♥ Shoes also from Clarkes! 

I'm literally in LOVE with these! I decided to go with these for the wedding I mentioned in a previous post, so glad I got them anyway I'll wear them with other things! Oh and both pairs of shoes are currently in Clarkes sale! Bonus!

xoxo

FOTD and OOTD!!

I'm wearing,

♥ Clarins Everlasting Foundation

♥ MAC MSF in Medium

♥ Bobbi Brown Nectar Shimmer Brick

♥ Bobbi Brown Apricot Blush

♥ MAC Lipstick in Hue

♥ YSL Faux Cils Radical Noir

♥ MAC Retrospeck

♥ MAC Patina

♥ MAC Fluidline in Dipdown

♥ Dress from H&M

♥ Brown Leggings from Jane Norman

♥ Chunky Bangle from Accessorize

♥ No shoes but I did wear some gold flats later on!

xoxo

Dress Dilemma!

I need some style advice guys! I know you are a fashionable bunch so I hope you don't mind!

I'm going to the wedding reception of one of my best friends in July and I have left it waaay to late to find a dress even more so shoes!

This is the dress I have bought,

Surprise surprise, its from Monsoon Fusion!

It has little bird cages and birds on it,

Cute!

I'm going to wear lots of bangles with it and maybe a long necklace. Oooooh maybe that green cocktail ring  mentioned in my Most wanted list!!

Now I cannot decide on shoes or even find a pair I like!

I wanted to wear some colourful shoes, maybe green as the dress is black and as its summer I wanted to brighten it up.

Can I find a pair of green shoes..... nope!!

So I thought pink

These are from Clarkes! I really rate Clarkes for shoes I have found some amazing ones in there and they are always comfy!

However, I really wanted sandals or peep toes, and I'm not huge fan of suede, I prefer patent!

What do you think? Do they go? Have you any other suggestions? What shoes would you wear?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

xoxo

Hair Envy!

I hate my hair at the moment.

I am having it cut on Wednesday and have been looking around at styles to go for.

I loved my hair when it was shorter but my hairdresser has decided that we are going to grow it, which is fine but the bottom layer, the longest one is so much longer that the next layer, its all straggly and thin and wispy as my hair is so fine.

So its getting the chop!

I love my hair curly, and curl it most days as I hate it so much at the moment, curly makes it bearable!

I love watching Samantha Who? Particularly because I love the characters style.... and her hair!

To me its short yet long! Its away from her neck but long enough to style it and wear it back.

I love Christina Applegate she's so cute and I love her style, I think its very similar to her character in the show. I know she has grown her hair out a bit now and I'm sure I will too but I want it to look good in the mean time!

What do you think?!

I'll be taking these pictures to the hairdressers, so Simon get ready to chop!!

xoxo

PS Please make another series of Samantha Who? its funny as well as stylish!

Maybe I'll look this hot on Wednesday!

Most Wanted!

Hey Guys! Sorry I have been a little absent but I thought I'd ease myself back into blogging with a wishlist! One of my favourite things to do!

Dress from Monsoon Fusion

Now we all know I have an unhealthy obsession with Monsoon and Accessorize, and if I could I would entirely dress myself in their clothing! I adore this dress from their Fusion range which is the slightly cooler younger diffusion line.

You can't really see from the pic but it has little elephants on it and a paisley design. Sooo cute with gold flip flops!

Maxi Dress

I reeeealllly want a maxi dress! The one above is from Gap and is jersey, I just don't know what style to go for. I'm worried it would look like a sack, but I know that jersey flatters my figure and hugs me in all the right places! Summer will be over before I get one!!

Essie Pretty Edgy

I am so in love with this colour, its from their Summer 2010 collection and I have ordered it, its should be on its way to me as we speak! I have OPI Jade is the New Black on my toes right now and I adore it!

Cocktail Rings from Anusha

I want all three! I love them!

They are £29 though so can't really justify all three! I haven't bought one yet as I simply can't decide which is my fave! I think its the cream one....... no the green one or maybe the blue one! See!!

Here's the website.

iPhone 4

My iPhone is an extension of my arm, I would NEVER have another phone. I am obsessed with it, I'm on it ALL the time. Its quite unnatural!

When Apple announced the iPhone 4 this week I knew it had to be mine! I skipped the last one and I am eligible for an upgrade so their timing was perfect! I'm just waiting to find out the price, then I'll be in that queue on the 26th to get my mitts on it!

Are you lusting after anything this week?!

xoxo