feline photobomber

Mae has clearly let appearing on my blog more lately go to her head as now the second the camera comes out for outfit photos she flies up to me and makes a fuss. I know she’s a heck of a lot more photogenic than I am, and I wouldn’t mind at all if she was a less delinquent cat, but growling at leaves and chewing my toes does get a little bit tiresome after the thirtieth time- she also doesn’t stay still long enough for any real nice photos of the pair of us. Still, here is our latest outfit escapade.

Dress: H&M | Shoes: Clarks

This dress was a bargain at £5 in H&M’s sale. Even full price it was only £7.99 and I wish I had picked up the plain black one as well as it’s the perfect cut and length for work. I had thought it was really flattering too, and then I saw these photos- oh well, you can’t win them all eh?!
The shoes were a gift from my friend Leo, my fellow Diva and handily, a manager in a Clarks store. I fell in love with these the second I saw them and I was both gobsmacked and very, very grateful when he said they were on their way to me. The perfect height for work, they are also a great transitional shoe as they can be paired with tights when the weather gets chilly. Cheers Leo, I owe you a cocktail or six!
Oh Mae, my character laden little beastie, she’s the polar opposite of our old cat Flash, who was also a regular on the blog…with him you could dress him up, carry him around and curl up for a nap on the sofa. The one time I tried to dress Mae up I almost lost an arm, she cries if you pick her up and napping isn’t in her daytime vocabulary. Still, the steady influx of mice shows that she loves us after all (I think!) and I wouldn’t be without her, even when she does shred toilet roll all over the house or throw herself out of windows. No doubt there will be more of her on the blog very soon, she’ll be starting one of her own next!

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First date fashion with Boohoo

Ages ago I was contacted by Boohoo to contribute to an infographic about first date fashion. I was given the subject of “Active Date” to cover which was a bit of a challenge as I’m not so much an Active Date kind of girl, but with sports luxe in mind the final result wasn’t too bad! Check out my tips, along with the other gorgeous girls’ below.

First Date Fashion Infographic Edit

What are your first date fashion tips?

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jack wills festival wish list

It might have been a good few years since I last headed to a festival but I still get a little bit excited when the season starts and the shops become full of laid back, summer attire perfect for dancing the night away in whilst wearing flowers in your hair. It might not be the first place to spring to mind when shopping for festival gear, but during my browsing I’ve found quite a few bits from Jack Wills for a weekend in a field looking cool yet practical.
First up we have this gorgeous and perfect for summer tee which is in the sale for £26. I really love the simplicity of this of this and it will be perfect under my next pick- these dungarees which are also in the sale at £34. Denim is a real festival staple and I love that with dungarees you can rock some of your favourite bikini tops or bra-lets without feeling too exposed.

Footwear wise I think you can’t go wrong with flip-flops as, although you might get wet feet in the rain you can at least hose the mud off! I’m loving this pink pair with the addition of the ankle straps which should solve the problem of having to hop back to your tent with only one shoe (I’ve lost many a flip-flop this way!)

I think the Alverton Duffle from the latest arrivals makes for the perfect festival bag. It’s laid back and secure and keeps your hands free to hold your yummy festival food or to dance like a mad lady. This would also be a really good bag for me in general for every day use so I probably wouldn’t hesitate in investing.

Wrist bands are a real festival staple and I know many friends who wear theirs until they fall off. I think I’d want to add a bit of sparkle among the paper and plastic and Jack Wills has some gorgeous festival-esque friendship bracelets starting at £5- this one is my favourite.

Last but not least, it may be summer but you can’t guarantee the weather and night time in a field gets chilly! A hoodie is an essential for any festival go-ers bag and with several in the sale at Jack Wills, such as this pink one I have my eye on there isn’t any excuse not to be snug!

Jack Wills isn’t somewhere I’ve ever bought very much from in the past but taking a closer look recently has opened my eyes to how much they actually do. I’ll be saving up some money for the next sale and stocking up for next Summer I think! What are your festival fashion essentials?

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Currently Loving- makeup edit

I keep meaning to do posts about the hair and beauty products I’m loving right now but never seem to actually get round to it. I’m by no means a beauty blogger and mostly not even very good at makeup but I do like to try new products and have a go at making myself look presentable to the general public. I’ve picked up a few new bits and pieces lately which I’ve been really impressed with, all of them super cheap too- I don’t think any of them cost over £5 each!
First product I’m loving right now is the MUA Matte Perfect loose powder which I can’t find on the Superdrug website, but I believe it cost £2.50. I picked this up as a replacement for my usual CLinique translucent powder as I can’t justify £20+ on makeup at the moment and I wasn’t really convinced I’d love this. Actually it’s really good and keeps my makeup in place and my skin shine free all day. You get loads of product in the pot as well so it’s a complete bargain and something I’d really recommend.
I’m forever on the quest for perfect eyebrows so when I saw Rimmel’s new brow gel I made an instant purchase of the mid brown shade. This was on offer at £2.99 when I bought it and I’ve since picked up another tube as I love it so much. It has a subtle effect but keeps brows neat and in place whilst filling in any sparse bits.
I’ve been on a bit of a lip product binge recently too, picking up the three pictured above among others. I’ll list them in the order I’ve swatched them on my hand so you can get a vague idea of what they look like (see, I’m not a beauty blogger!). First up is a lipstick from essence at Wilko that I picked up as part of a 3 for 2 offer the other weekend. This is the rosy pink colour of my dreams and for £2 is of super quality. I was already familiar with essence having picked up a few bits in Spain last year so I was super excited to see them available over here! I’ll be picking up more of these for sure! Next up is one of the new Maybelline Baby Lips (electro pink shock). It’s also the product I’m wearing on my lips in the photos, although only a very light coat. I’ve seen mixed reviews of these and of Baby Lips in general but for me they are a staple. I love the subtle neon pop of colour these give and how soft and smooth they leave my lips. I have my eye on a couple of the other colours but ought to show a little bit of restraint! Last but not least on the lip product front is one of the new lip crayons from Beauty UK at Superdrug (in the shade would I lilac to you? ). I’ve been wearing this pretty much daily and just adore the beautiful pastel shade. Mum’s a fan of these too and picked up a pink one as part of a two for £5 offer at the same time.
Usually I’m all about the eyeshadows so it’s a surprise to me that I’ve been less than inspired by what I’ve seen around lately. I have only picked up one eyeshadow in recent months and that came from the huge selection by essence, again as part of the 3 for 2 deal (I also picked up another eyeshadow for Mum). Their basic colours are only £1.60 each and SO impressive. The colour lasts all day and this has become my every day base colour for work- I think this is shade 78. If you’re looking for high quality and highly pigmented colour then you really can’t go far wrong. I’ll be stocking up on some more “trendy” colours too at that price!
What products are you loving right now? Are there any more bargains I should be seeking out? Let me know below, especially if you’ve tried any of those I’ve mentioned- I’d love to hear what you thought.

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Jumping To It

I thought it was about time this elephant print jumpsuit showed it’s face again- after buying it and vowing to pretty much live in it I realised I’d actually only managed to wear it once since it came to live with me- oops! I really need a major wardrobe downsize at some point the near future, with plans to get a place of my own in the new year I really won’t have space for everything that I currently own (my giant wardrobe won’t be able to accompany me) and let’s not get me started on the shoe situation…

Jumpsuit: New Look | Shoes: Converse via Sarenza

How’s this for a minimal outift? That’s what I love about jumpsuits, it’s a sartorial quick fix and involves little to no effort. I wore this the Sunday before last for a solo trip in to town- sometimes a little window browsing all alone is the perfect remedy to life’s every day stresses even if there may have been a couple of accidental purchases along the way.
I just need to adopt a more minimalistic approach to the rest of my life now, I am living in cluttered chaos and don’t know where to start in actually determining what I actually need vs. what I think I need/holds sentimental value. Any tips and tricks would be brilliant, I’m so excited about this next step in my life but a little bit overwhelmed by it too!

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