A week ago or so I was contacted on behalf of Miss Selfridge asking if I’d like to take part in a little competition they were running to celebrate the launch of their get-the-look tutorials. We were given the choice of three looks to attempt and indulging my love of all things sparkly I opted for “Pretty Princess”. A few days after sending off my choice a party ready back was delivered, containing all that was required to become a Party Princess…the rest was down to me.

I’ve never really followed tutorials before so I was dubious about whether I could do it, however I needn’t have been as the videos were short, simple and oh so easy to follow.

Make up came courtesy of Bourjois:
(I am in love with every single product, especially the primer and lipstick!)

Hair styling was c/o label.m with a Toni and Guy tutorial: My waves are delighted with the high quality products I’ve piled on!

The outfit of course came via Miss Selfridge, I chose the stunning Embellished Babydoll Dress and the glitzy collar necklace that you can just about see. Sadly due to the temperamental weather and general lack of lighting and photography skills I haven’t really done things justice, but I hope you get the general idea (the shoes are Dune via Sarenza and we won’t go there on the pain levels involved…the foot saga continues well in to the new year it seems…)

I couldn’t quite get to grips with the hair tutorial, my hair isn’t quite the right length for such statement curls, but makeup wise I was pretty pleased and I can’t wait to wear this outfit for real!

Have you ever followed tutorials before? How do you find them?

How did I do?

xxx

The Fashion Shwap is an innovative retail platform that gives customers the opportunity to exchange unwanted items for credits to spend on new items from brands such as Rare London, Fairground and Reverse.

With an expert fashion team constantly sourcing affordable, on trend fashions to make their customers stand out from the crowd, The Fashion Shwap is THE place to bag the perfect outfit for the Christmas party season and for those big nights out all year round.

Customers don’t have to ‘shwap’ in order to purchase, but if they fancy saving a bit of money and bagging a discount then it’s the perfect way to snag a bargain.

Every girl has clothes in their wardrobe that they no longer want to wear, so The Fashion Shwap provides the opportunity to get rid of these items in exchange for new items from Sugarhill Boutique and Rare London.

What The Fashion Shwap does:

The idea of The Fashion Shwap is to allow girls to get rid of items in their wardrobe that are just gathering dust, never to be worn again and to give them the opportunity to purchase something new and on trend that will provide the perfect fashion fix.

In order to ‘shwap’, the items must be either new with the tags on or in perfect condition. The Fashion Shwap will do all the work and all that customers need to do is submit a picture of the items you’d like to ‘shwap’ using the Shwap form on the website.

For each shwapped item, if accepted by The Fashion Shwap team, the customer will receive store credit to spend online. An offer for each item will be made which the customer can accept or decline. A pre-paid postage bag will be sent to collect items and a unique store credit code will be on its way within 24hours of the team receiving the ‘shwap’ items.

Then; get Shwapping!

The items that have been shwapped are also available for sale on the website, so it’s possible to find some great one offs and sought after out of season pieces.

With plans to move into shoes and accessories once the retail platform is more established, there will be no stopping the young entrepreneurs behind The Fashion Shwap.

www.thefashionshwap.com

http://www.facebook.com/TheFashionShwap

https://twitter.com/fashionshwap

I think this sounds utterly amazing and I have a bag of goods I had earmarked for ebay that I think I’ll be shwapping instead!

If you fancy a browse and buy when the site launches tomorrow you can snag yourself a cool 20% off with the code LAUNCH20 too!

Let me know what you think and what you treat yourself to.

xxx

Continuing with the bargain theme this week here is a fabulous chance to get your hand on designer goods for less from November 29th at Cocosa…

Lulu Guinness has teamed up with Cocosa to design a selection of iconic bags, exclusively available at
Cocosa.com. Starting on 29th November, the Lulu Guinness for Cocosa sale will offer up to an amazing
56% off.

Renowned for her glamorous feminine prints, Lulu Guinness has designed seven sensational styles for Cocosa which pays homage to the brands classic red hot lips design. These exclusive pieces are the
perfect accessory for the party season and the ultimate Christmas present for that fashionista in your
life. Highlights of the collection include a fabulous handbag with a polished grey chain in Lulu’s classic
design, available in two sizes from £100, or for something more compact, Guinness has designed a lip
print make-up bag now £29 from £60 and a cute make-up purse – a handbag essential – now £20 from
£35 .

As with all Cocosa sales, once it’s gone, it’s gone and with the chance to purchase these one-off pieces
at an incredible 56% discount, you need to be quick to make sure you don’t miss out!

If you want to stand out from the crowd this December or treat someone to something special this sale
is not to be missed.
The exclusive Lulu Guinness Sale for Cocosa opens at 6am on 29th November and is available to preview
online at cocosa.com on 28th November.

Have you ever used Cocosa before? I haven’t personally, but have been bought presents from there (ta P and L if you are reading!) and can’t ever resist a cheeky browse.
Let me know if you snap something up from this sale, few can resist the lure of Lulu.

xxx

Dress c/o Ax Paris, Shoes c/o Barratts

I think my search for a party dress may well be over. As part of my partnership with Ax Paris came this beautiful black sequin skater dress. It was love at first sight and as soon as I slipped it on my feelings about myself were transformed. I love a bit of sparkle, as most of you will now know and the cut of this dress skims over the parts I don’t like so much and emphasies those I do. It also comes in a beautiful nude colour, but me being me would have far too many red-wine induced accidents wearing that, so I went back to black.

The shoes I’m wearing were a gift from the folks at Barratts and although my foot really isn’t up to anything but flats at the moment (not pictured, the epic amounts of hopping and swearing these photos generated) I couldn’t resist slipping them on to show off. When I can wear heels again the wedge will be nice and gentle and I’m kind of obsessed with this berry colour right now. Oh so impatient to be able to wear this properly!

It’s under a month now until our work party and I am impatient for it to arrive now I know I have my dress! Footwear won’t be decided until much nearer the time as I guess it depends on the state of my tootsies but I’m hoping for some semi-killer heels; what would you suggest?

What do you think of this dress? Of the three options I’ve tried this is MY personal number one.

xxx

A while ago I posted about Zatchels collaborating with Where’s Wally and I was pretty excited about that. Their latest pairing with none other than Hello Kitty literally saw me squealing with joy, especially when the news came with an invite to the press event. Sadly, thanks to the crutches I wasn’t able to make it up to London, but I still have information to share and images to drool over…

London born Hello Kitty teams up with British label Zatchels creating a series of high quality and fashionable leather bags. Lovingly handmade in the UK these bags are the ultimate accessory for every Hello Kitty fan and fashionista.

Part of the “Hello Kitty Loves UK Manufacturing” initiative for 2012 and beyond whereby Hello Kitty will continue to partner with prolific UK manufacturing fashion brands, supporting our home- grown brands and their role in the UK economy. Each hand crafted satchel and bag has a unique digitally printed finish, featuring a unique Hello Kitty design

Using custom made inks and state of the art equipment Zatchels have been able to print the bespoke Hello Kitty designs onto their signature satchels, barrel bags, and saddle bags without compromising the quality of the leather and originality of their hand crafted designs. Hello Kitty fans will be pleased to know that this collection of unique designs will launch in early November 2012 and will appeal to girls and women of all ages.

Collection prices:

Zatchels x Hello Kitty Barrel Bag: £55

Zatchels x Hello Kitty Saddle Bag: Small 23.5cm- £65  Large: 29.5cm £75

Zatchels x Hello Kitty Satchels: 11.5”- £110 13”- £120 14.5”- £130

The exclusive Zatchels x Hello Kitty Collections will be available online soon at www.zatchels.com and within selected retailers UK wide.

Aren’t they gorgeous? I am seriously tempted to treat myself to a saddle bag in the Black and White polka dot design…I feel in need of a reward for gaining my first whole stone towards my healthy life, over half way there now!

Which one would you go for?

xxx