4 Outfits: Florals

Despite the fact that, sadly, we seem to be coming towards the end of Summer in the UK I thought it could be helpful to give you some ideas on how to style florals. Not by any means are floral prints difficult to style, but I think they can sometimes be intimidating. I for one have definitely been a walking fashion faux pas dressed head to toe in floral in my younger years. It was most definitely not a good look. Florals are also a great way to transition between summer and autumn especially when paired with darker colours. I hope you enjoy/find this post in any way useful!


Look #1: Top, Shorts, Shoes, Hat

Look #2: Top, Trousers, Boots, Bag

Look #3: Top, Shorts, Boots, Clutch, Sunglasses, Necklace

Look #4: Shirt, Jeans, Heels, Bag


Are you a fan of florals?

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MAC Mineralize Skin Finish - Soft & Gentle

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish (Soft & Gentle) £24 - link

The season of highlighter is upon us and holy jesus are they everywhere! I'm a recent highlighter addict with, perhaps, one of the most cult products of it's kind being my most recent purchase. 

MAC soft and gentle is loved by many and for good reason. It is truly beautiful. On your face, in the pan and where ever else you want to put it, it's just beautiful. I apply this mainly to my cheek bones and occasionally down the bridge of my nose, my cupids bow etc and it leaves a beautiful sheen which just brings your face to life. It adds dimension that pulls all the rest of your make up together and I love it. The sheen it leaves isn't subtle but it isn't all up in your face either, it's the perfect balance and I think the champagne-esque shade would suit most skin tones which adds to the reason it's so popular. 

I'm definitely on the hunt to add more highlighters to my minuscule (although hopefully not for long) collection but I'm more than happy to have this to tide me over until I fall in love again.

If you have any recommendations for highlighters please please leave a comment!

Do you have this product? Do you love it as much as I do?

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4 Outfits: Playsuits

This style of post seemed to go down pretty well the last time I did one (which you can read here if you're interested) so I thought I'd do another one!

I really love playsuits and think they're a great piece to have in your wardrobe, I'd even go so far as to say they're a staple. They're so versatile and easy to style and there's one to suit everyone. It's taken me a long time to feel comfortable enough to wear something like this but recently I just can't be bothered to care what people might think of me and I'm just gonna go for it! If you're like me and you don't feel confident in wearing things like this either, then I hope you get the courage to do it because I know you'll look wonderful.

Look #1: Playsuit, Sunglasses, Shoes

Look #2: Playsuit, Bag, Shoes

Look #3: Playsuit, Sunglasses, Clutch, Shoes

Look #4: Playsuit, Bag, Shoes


I hope you like this post and it gives you some inspiration on how to style playsuits this summer.


Are you a fan of playsuits? What have you been wearing a lot recently?

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Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess Bronzer

Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess Bronzer £32 - link (currently on offer at 10% off at Debenhams)

This is a super beautiful product. First of all the packaging is amazing, although pretty huge so not that travel friendly, but the actual bronzer is a complete winner. 

Normally I'm not a bronzer kind of girl unless it's to very lightly (and somewhat badly) attempt to contour but this is way too warm for my skin tone to use as that, so I brushed it on to the high points of my face instead to give me some colour and it works wonderfully. It has a really light shimmer running through it which also, unfortunately, makes it not so great for contouring but absolutely lovely for giving a subtle glow that is perfect for Summer.

I chose the shade 'medium' despite my fair skin tone as I find it easier and just prefer to blend in a slightly darker product than layering a lighter one, it also helps that this is a complete dream to blend and doesn't leave you with the much dreaded muddy look. 

As for the £32 price tag I think it is completely worth it. Not only is the product great and the packaging completely gorgeous but you get 21 grams of product(!!!). It will take me years to get through that amount of bronzer so it was definitely a great investment for me it just all depends on if you think it's worth it for you.  

This is a beautiful product to add to your collection, especially for the Summer and I couldn't recommend it enough.

What do you think of this? Do you have a favourite bronzer?

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4 Outfits: Kimonos

Not really the most difficult piece to style as it is essentially a more summery cardigan but sometimes it can look a little out of place and almost frumpy because of the shape so just in case you need a little inspiration I thought I'd share with you some of the outfits I think a kimono is the perfect finishing touch.

Look 1: Kimono, Top, Shorts, Shoes

Look 2: Kimono, Top, Jeans, Bag

Look 3: Kimono, Top, Jeans, Bag, Shoes

Look 4: Kimono, Top, Shorts, Sunglasses


As I say with all fashion posts I attempt, I'm sorry for my severe lack of colour and creativity when it comes to clothing, I'm a huge fan of simple fashion (clearly).

I hope this helped to give you some inspiration anyway! I'm definitely going shopping tomorrow to pick up the kimono in look one, I love it.


Are you a fan of kimonos?

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Summer Essentials

In terms of beauty, Summer is a difficult season to get through. With your make up sliding down your face 20 minutes after applying it and your hair being frazzled by the sun I thought I'd share with you some of the products I couldn't be without in the burning London heat (that was obviously sarcasm, just in case you missed it).

sea salt spray

I really try to stay away from applying heat to my hair in the Summer as I think the heat from the sun is probably damaging enough without me adding to it so if I haven't shoved it up in a pineapple on top of my head I've used this. The one from Lush is my favourite. It smells of sweet lemons and isn't too drying as some salt sprays can be. You can buy it here for £9.95. The overall effect of using a salt spray is texture. It doesn't aid in curling your hair or holding curls etc is just gives you that beachy wave, textured look. Basically giving the illusion that you've made an effort when in reality it's taken you 2 seconds. The Bumble & bumble one is also really great I just don't use it as often because it doesn't really have a scent which I know some people will prefer but I like a little something to freshen up my hair, especially on day 2 or 3. You can buy the Bumble & bumble surf spray mini (50ml) from Boots here for £9.50.
I also really like this one from Lee Stafford for £7.99 and this one from Toni & Guy which is a texturising spray but does pretty much the exact same thing!

breath of fresh air toner

My hands down best friend in the Summer. I LOVE this. I'm sure Caudalie do a really similar if not identical product that I can't wait to try but this is absolutely wonderful. Despite saying that it's a toner it doesn't really do much for the skin for example there isn't any significant decrease in redness or glorious radiance but oh my god is it refreshing. It doesn't ruin your make up when you spray it on top so keeping this in my handbag for a refreshing spritz every now and again is essential for me. As the label says it truly is a sea breeze captured in a bottle. You can get it here from Lush for £7.95.

origins vitazing tinted moisturiser

Usually tinted moisturisers aren't very forgiving when it comes to my oily skin but this is beautiful. I'm head over heels for this whole range from Origins but I find myself picking this up more often than my other mositurisers during the Summer. It leaves the skin looking radiant and glowing and the sheer tint is enough for good skin days. SPF is obviously a must for all times of the year but more so in the Summer so the fact that this has SPF 15 is great. It provides a lovely base for foundation, feels completely weightless and sinks into the skin quickly so you don't have to worry about your face feeling tacky when you're trying to apply the rest of your make up. You can get it here  for £29.
Oh and just bare in mind that if you're using a moisturiser with SPF in it don't use a foundation, primer or any other base product with an SPF in it as they cancel each other out - a handy tip for you there if I do say so myself!

urban decay setting spray

We've all had to put it up with our make up lasting 5 minutes in the sunshine but are gone are the days of your make up sliding off your face. For us oily skin gals keeping make up on your face in the Winter is hard enough let alone in the Summer which is why I use this most of the year round, but there is no way I could live without this when the sun comes out. A few sprays of this keeps my make up in place for a lot longer than just dousing my face in powder. I have a mini version that I keep in my bag for touch ups during the day as using a powder is out of the question when you've been sweating. It isn't a good look - trust me. This doesn't hold your make up in place forever but will definitely add an hour or 2 to the length of time it will last. From experience, and I'm sure none of you are this stupid, avoid spraying it too close to your face because it makes for very patchy and dripping make up. You can buy it here for £21.


And that's all of my beauty essentials when it comes to Summer! Let me know if you'd like to see a make up version of this list.


Have you tried any of these?
Do you have a product that you couldn't live without in the Summer?

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Trends for Spring/Summer 2014

Summer 2014

Hair

Hair styles of the summer bring sleek poker straight hair and head bands back from the 90's. The beach waves and loose curls are on their way out this season according to the catwalk. Personally I'm not sure if when the sun decides to come out in London I could bare straightening my hair everyday and everything in my body tells me head bands are for washing my face but who know's, maybe you will see me rocking a 5 inch wide elasticated head band. I doubt it. 

Beauty

Black eyeliner never goes out of fashion and this summer the way to wear it is smudged under the eyes. It's all about it not being perfect which is great for all of us that absolutely can not do winged liner even if our lives depended on it.
  Using a pencil to achieve this is probably the easiest but I guess a black eyeshadow under the lower lash line would essentially do the same thing. I usually wear a variation of this look everyday by applying 'Faint', which is a dark brown colour from my Naked Basics palette, under my lower lash line just to complete my eye look. I'm all for this trend but really always thought of it as more of a Auntumn/Winter look but I guess not.
Here are a couple of my favourite eyeliners:
Rimmel Scandal Eyes £3.99
Topshop Khol in Coal £4.00

I have always been a massive fan of bronzers so I was glad to hear that they should be overused this season. A natural bronzed looking face achieved literally by lightly applying your favourite bronzer to you whole face (and neck, you don't want to be leaving that out - trust me)  is the thing to do this Summer. I always opt for a matte bronzer as I'm not a massive fan of shimmer ,no matter how subtle, so most days I use my Nars Laguna Bronzer but I find at the moment it looks just a little to dark for me so my routine involves a lot of blending. If you have any recommendations for a light bronzer please please let me know.
I would be eternally grateful.

Nail trends. Who knew they were a thing? Nail art has been the subject of controversy on the catwalk with some designers such as Marc Jacobs who seem to be a true advocate of nail art using studs to accentuate his runway outfits, but as much as they deny it natural and nude nails are creeping their way back in and I have to say, I'm all for it. Natural colours, simple patterns and french manicures are the opposing trend and have always been something I've preferred. As ridiculous as it sounds I'm never brave enough to have something extravagant on my nails so nude and pastel shades are my go to for spring especially and by far the biggest part of my collection.

My favourite nude nail polishes:
Nude Beigie

Essie San Tropez

Fashion
Florals, embellishment, slogan tees and crop tops.
Florals are quite simple to wear really as they're on pretty much everything. Over the past few months they've been appearing on jeans which I think is a great way to wear them this season.
Embellishments are the new studs for S/S which I think is a nice change. I haven't seen much of this in the highstreet yet so hopefully they'll catch up before the end of summer.
I'm on the fence with slogan tees. I can't tell if you're meant to wear them ironically or not so I haven't really bothered. The only one that hangs lonely in my wardrobe is one I got from Zara last year which isn't in stock anymore but I found a replica here.


There are hundreds more trends to accompany this season but these are the ones I thought most applied to everyone.
What do you think of these trends for the upcoming months?

Lots of love.