Matalan Aztec Top

I thought I'd share with you a little cheeky purchase I made today from Matalan. I think it's me being hopeful that we WILL get a summer this year, because I was drawn to all the strapless tops, which are so cute when the suns shining and you want to avoid those pesky tan lines!

I'm really loving Aztec print clothes which seem to be taking the fashion world by storm at the moment and my eyes were immediately drawn to this peach and black Aztec print strapless tube top at just £3! I thought it was so cute I just had to have one!

There's no especially exciting design to it, no, it's a straight tube top with a little stitching down the centre of the bust, but it is really cute all the same. I'm picturing it now with black denim shorts and flip flops!

The pattern is really gorgeous and with a hidden support inside will be fantastic for sunny days and sultry evenings. Well, I can wish can't I!

Let me know if you've picked up any Aztec pieces lately!

ASOS Maxi Skirts Galore!

Looking through the ASOS site today, for my much longer maxi skirt, I stumbled across so many lovely designs, that I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you.

1. Maxi Skirt in Floral Print with Splits, £35

I love the bold pattern and colours of this skirt. It looks gorgeously slim fitted and seems something that could be dressed down or dressed up for a work environment.

Made from a soft-touch jersey fabric, stretchy, high waisted, floral print throughout, deep splits to the hem, regular fit.

2. Oh My Love Maxi Skirt in Tall Flowers Print, £35

This beautiful floral skirt looks really floaty and girlie and I can just imagine wearing it on a warm summer evening, with a vest or crop top and flip flops.

Made from delicate sheer chiffon, stretchy, high waist, fluid main with soft pleating, deep side splits, regular fit.

3. Maxi Skirt in Aztec Print, £35

This maxi is really gorgeous. Aztec prints are so popular right now and this skirt would be right on trend. This would look great with gladiator sandals and a simple vest top.

Made from a soft easy-care jersey fabric, geometric print throughout, side split to knee, high waisted, regular fit.

4. Maxi Skirt in Grunge Stripe, £25

Monochrome is very popular right now too and this skirt is really cute. I can see this skirt on a festival field with wellies, or in the office with sandals and a blazer.

Made from printed jersey, monochrome stripe, stretch waistband, split to reverse, full length maxi cut.

5. Seafolly Brazil Maxi Skirt, £84

A little pricey for a skirt? But it's beautiful. Who can deny that these colours are simply gorgeous and would be sure to make people notice you! This is such a holiday skirt. I love it.

Bold contrast print, stretch shirred waistband, fluid maxi cut.

6. Federation Bonjour Skirt, £95

Again this one is at the much higher price range but is also really gorgeous. I love the contrast waistband too, which would look great with a crop top.

Made from a breathable woven fabric, high-rise waist with a striped waistband, all-over print, fine pleating, regular fit.

If you're more of a dungarees girl than a skirt girl, check out my dungarees post instead!

Now, which one to buy?!

Elle Magazine Offers: FREE Benefit Smokin' Eyes & Rodial Brazilian Tan

Whilst reading my June issue of Elle this morning, I came across a couple of great offers....

The first is the latest subscription offer to Elle magazine. If you're a regular to the magazine and have thought about subscribing for a while, well now's your time. If you sign up to 12 issues of the magazine for just £15, before 5th June, you will get the top selling Benefit Smokin' Eyes sexy eye and brow makeover kit worth £28.50, for FREE! This is a great product, so it's an amazing offer! 

You can subscribe to Elle on-line or you can call 01858 438846 and quote ref 1ES10018. See terms and conditions. 

The second great news to come from my read today is that available with the July issue of Elle there will be a FREE Rodial Brazilian Tan sample, in a choice of 3 shades, worth £13.50!  

The shades available are Clear, Light and Dark, so get your copy ASAP if you want to pick your perfect shade. What a great way to start the summer; with bronzed pins! Yes please!

Lavender Lies & Beige Spotty Nails

I had a little play today with a new nail polish I've bought from the Bourjois range, 03 Beige. I thought I'd share the look that I tried with you!

I've only recently painted my nails with Maybelline Color Show Lavender Lies, so thought I would add some playful dots to my ring finger. Well, why not!

I removed the Maybelline Lavender Lies from my ring finger, added a couple of coats of Bourjois Beige, waited for it to dry (which was pretty fast) and then added some Lavender Lies dots. 

For a first attempt at freehand dots, they're not too bad, but would be much better with a nail art pen, which I'm dying to try out!

I think it's quite a cute look and really want to invest in a nail art pen now to try more precise designs!

If anyone knows of any great nail art pens I should try, let me know!

Step by Step Aqua Under Eye Makeup

When I opened my makeup box this morning, I had the urge to wear something other than my usual neutrals and wanted to share the look I came up with.

I've always been someone who predominantly uses eyeshadow on the eye lids as well under the eye but I've not tried it purely under the eye before. 

I created this really simple look, with just a couple of products, in just a few easy steps and I think this look would be perfect if you're new to under eye colour!

This look was created with four brushes, left to right below; 

1) GOSH Kabuki Brush
2) GOSH Foundation Brush
3) M&S Eyelid Crease Brush (part of a set)
4) GOSH Slanted Eye-liner Brush

Step 1: Applying the base

I first used Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid in Cameo over my whole face, using my GOSH Foundation Brush, making sure to only use a tiny amount on my eyelids. 

Step 2: Setting the base

I then dusted Maybelline FIT me! Pressed Powder in 125 Nude Beige, on top of the foundation, to set it in place, using my GOSH Kabuki Brush. I made sure to pay special attention to my T-Zone as this can tend to look a little shinier.

Step 3: Adding the eye base colour

Because the focus of this look is under the eye, I used Naked (top line, 1st on left) from my MUA Undress Me Too Palette and with my Eyelid Crease Brush coated the whole of my top lid and up to my eyebrow. This creates a lovely neutral, matt finish to the eye.

Step 4: Adding inner corner colour

I then added a little of Shy (top line, 3rd from the left), to the inner corners of my eyes, to help open them and create a brighter eyed look. This particular colour in this palette is really well pigmented and a little goes a long, long way!

Step 5: Adding under eye backdrop colour

I then took my trusty (as you can see!) Barbara Daly, Tesco eyeshadow in Truffle to draw a smudged line again with my Eyelid Crease Brush, under my bottom lashes. This was just a faint smudge of colour, as a backdrop to the aqua.

Step 6: Lining & brightening the eye

Using my GOSH Liquid Eye Liner Pen, I drew a thin line across the lid of each eye. I didn't take this out into a cat eye flick on this occasion, but it would look gorgeous that way too.

I also added Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Liner Pencil in White inside of the eye. This really helps your eyes to 'pop' when adding bright colour shadows.

Step 7: Adding the aqua colour

The fun stuff! I then took my H&M Glitter Eyeshadow Palette and used the top row, 1st left aqua shade, with my GOSH Slanted Eye Liner Brush, to draw a line under my bottom lashes, on top of the already applied Truffle eyeshadow. I then used my Crease Brush to smudge the Truffle & aqua together a little, to create a merged line free colour.

Step 8: Mascara

To finish, I added my new favourite mascara, They're Real, from Benefit, to top and bottom lashes, ensuring good coverage and the look was complete!

This is a very simple way of wearing colour if you're not used to it and can be done in almost any colour shadow or liner. 

What do you think? Is it something you'll try?

Current Wardrobe Favourties

I go through phases every now and then of having a few pieces in my wardrobe that I wear again and again. At the moment I have three items in particular that are by far my favourites and  I thought I'd share them with you.

My first wardrobe favourite at the moment is my Leather Jacket from Dorothy Perkins. I love this jacket because it's light weight and is perfect for the in between stage of wearing big wool coats or nothing at all. 

I love wearing it with skinny jeans or pencil skirts and blouses but I can also see how it will look gorgeous with flirty summer dresses and boots come the warmer months.

My second favourite at the moment are my coloured jeans and in particular my Pink Love Label Jeans from Very, £25. They are so bright and cheerful and never fail to put a smile on my face. 

They look stunning with a black top and heels, for those days when it's dreary outside and you want to wear a little slice of sunshine and I'm really looking forward to wearing them with white swing vests and sandals in the summer.

My third 'can't live without' item at the moment is my Dorothy Perkins Satchel bag. I really wanted a satchel bag as I've always liked the style but I also wanted something that would fit my IPad and note book, plus all my other gazillion standard handbag items. 

This bag is really gorgeous and with the cross body strap, I can still pick up my daughter without losing my bag. Perfect!

What are your wardrobe favourites at the moment?

Maybelline Colour Show Lavender Lies Review

With the new Maybelline Colour Show nail varnishes on sale in Tesco at the moment for £2, I thought I'd pick up a couple! The first I grabbed, which I've tried today, is no 554 Lavender Lies.

What I particularly like about these nail polishes is the thickness in which they go on to the nail. One coat and I was done, which is quite rare. Often when a polish says it's 'one coat', it lies! This one however was perfect after one sweep on each nail. 

Considering I used so little polish to do this look, these bottles will last and last, which makes them an even better bargain.

These varnishes have a transparent gel base, which gives them a fierce fashion finish. They're so shiny, they look like I've used a top coat. 

The Maybelline Colour Show range has 38 shades including some of my favourites 6 Bubbilicious (a teal green), 110 Coral Reefs (a pinky/coral) and 262 Pink Boom (hot pink). There are also some really brave colours like 754 Pow Green (a neon greeny/yellow) and 341 Orange Attack (orange with a punch)!

I think that Lavender Lies is absolutely gorgeous and can't wait to try the others that I bought. 

What do you think?

Compare Pandora Bracelet Beads

Lately I've seen a lot of adverts about the new Pandora Spring Collection. They're beautiful, there's no denying it. However, I'm not entirely sure that buying a singular bead for an average of £40 each time, is the best thing for my bank balance.

I am lucky enough to own my own Pandora Bracelet and Bead (yes one!) because it was given to me as a present. It is gorgeous and I really do love it, but these latest ads have got me thinking. I know there are cheaper beads out there, so I wonder if there are beads similar to the new Spring Collection that I could get to fill my Pandora bracelet with, for a fraction of the price? My mission was set!

I had a look through the new collection and found three beads that I really like.

Bead 1: 

Openwork Sparkling Circles v's Purple Stone Charm

The first bead from Pandora is the Openwork Sparkling Circles Charm, on the left below. It's sparkly and beautiful and also a jaw dropping £45. 

I also found, on the right above, this Purple Stones Charm Bead, from Amazon, which is equally as cute, for just 38p! For this price, I'll have five please!

Bead 2: 

Glass Ribbon Charm v's Pink Swirl Threaded Lampwork

The second Pandora bead, the Glass Ribbon Charm, below left, is really girlie and is £30.

The above right Pink Swirl Threaded Lampwork Bead is from Rose Cottage Jewellery, is Sterling Silver, comes in it's own gift pouch and is just £8.50. This pink murano glass charm is a true treat and a snip at the price.

Bead 3:

Pink Cherry Blossom v's Cherry Blossom with Pink

The third and final bead from Pandora that I thought I'd try to find an alternative for was the Pink Cherry Blossom Clip, below left. This clip is £45, pretty, feminine and full of charm.

The above right Cherry Blossom with Pink Enamel Bead is from Etsy and is £15.05. It, like the Pandora bead is Sterling Silver and although the pink is slightly different, it is beautiful and a fraction of the price.

Ok, so the cheaper beads may not have the same finesse and sparkle as the Pandora beads, but if you're anything like me and you don't wear the same bracelet for longer than five minutes, it's nice to have a variety and variety that hasn't cost a whole pay packet. 

So what does everyone think? Are you Pandora all the way or would you consider wearing a bead that's not Pandora?

Stila Cosmetics Lip Glaze Review & Swatches

I was so excited when the post arrived this morning. I've been lucky enough to get my hands on one of the Stila Lip Glaze Sets, for just £16. 

The set is actually worth £60, so it was something I had to grab quick and admittedly, I have had my eye on this for a little while. Stila refer to this particular set as the Winter Lip Glaze Set and is available on their website right now.

The beautiful purple box was wrapped in lovely pink tissue paper, with a little thank you card, making it feel extra special to open. I just love Stila lip glaze, so was so excited to open a box of eight!

The lip glaze wands are cutely clear, so that you can see all the lovely lip glaze and it's gorgeous colour inside. It's also super handy because you can see exactly how much you've got left, so you never run out!

There are eight gorgeous shades in this particular Lip Glaze Set; Kitten, Kaleidoscope, Apricot, Grapefruit, Fantasy, Starfruit, Dreamy and Believe. You can see that each colour has a really shiny finish and some have a lovely shimmer to them, making those particular colours feel super summery.

The release of the Glaze itself is done by twisting the bottom of the wand and slowly the Glaze is released into the soft brush. The brush itself is perfectly soft on your lips and long enough to get a lovely sweeping action as the Glaze is applied.

I really like each of the colours and they really are quite different to each other, which makes this set exceptional value, as you get so many looks.

My favourites I think are Grapefruit, Believe and Dreamy. Those three are a light pink, a much darker pink and a nude shade.

I'm really pleased with this set and am interested to see what the other sets are like. Have you tried any? Which are your favourites? 

What I Wore Yesterday

I thought I'd share with you what I wore out for lunch yesterday. It was a special family Sunday lunch and I wanted to dress up a little, so here is what I chose.

Burgundy Peter Pan shirt - ASOS

Owl necklace - ASOS

Bracelet stack - Primark & Claire's Accessories

Jeans - H&M

Shoes - New Look

I felt really comfortable but stylish too. 

Let me know what you think of this look?