Weekend With The Parents

My parents came up for the weekend and despite the weather we still managed to have a lovely time. On Friday we went shopping and in the evening we all went for a yummy dinner at Brown's.

I got these babies in Topshop for £30! I'd been in love with them since they were full price at £65 but when I found them in the sale with only one pair left, in MY SIZE! I couldn't leave them. Even my mum, who never encourages my shoe-buying, said that I should get them.

Topshop 'Love' - £65 £30

I'm thinking they'll look cute adding a splash of colour to all-black outfits, or even shorts teamed with little socks for a more casual look. Outfit posts to come!

Then on Saturday we went sightseeing in London. Acting like a tourist is difficult at the best of times, but in the pissing rain with wind simultaneously sticking your hair to your lipgloss, blowing you off your feet and pulling your umbrella inside out, it's made a bit worse. But I dressed like it was April even if it was pretending to be November outside.

Cardigan - Charity shop; Lace shirt - Vintage market; Necklaces - H&M; Shorts - Vintage Levi's; Creepers - eBay


Never the less my mum was adamant to wander around. And wander we did. I now have blisters. Although, my feet were probably the driest in London today - thank you creepers!

Me & Mama at Tower Bridge. Dad was determined to get a photo. We weren't so keen.

And now they've gone home and I'm super sleepy so having a boring Saturday night blogging from my bed. Hope you've all had a fun weekend! xo

BareMinerals Make-Under

I've been rubbish the past few weeks, I know. But look at all the treats I'm back with.
Last week I went for a make-under at Bare Escentuals and today all this arrived in the post from the lovely Anna. She sent everything they used during my 'make-under' and sent it over for my BBM BareMinerals review (link to come).

Get Started Complexion Kit - £49; Purely Nourishing Moisturizer: Normal to Dry Skin - £27; Flawless Definition Mascara - £16; 'Pretty Amazing' Lipcolor in 'Free Will' - £15; BareMinerals 'Ready' Blush - £22; bareMinerals 'Ready' Eyeshadow 2.0 - £19; Liner Shadow in 'Graphite' - £14; Brow Color in 'Auburn' - £11

I usually use liquid foundations, either MAC Studio Fix Fluid or Rimmel Wake Me Up. bareMinerals use a 3-step powder process for foundation, with 1 SPF 15 foundation, 'Warmth All Over' face colour and a Mineral Veil top powder, and I was worried that I wouldn't get the coverage I needed but I was wrong.

The powders are very light and you can barely even feel them on your face, but with the help of the face primer, the powder warms to your face and looks just like thicker, pore-blocking foundations.

This Get Started kit even includes three brushes and a Get Started booklet and DVD.

bareMinerals use only the best ingredients to ensure that their products contain nothing that your skin doesn't need. This innovative formula means that their makeup actually doubles up as skincare, and is so pure you can sleep in it.

Weird face and I'm growing out my eyebrows, so excuse them! But this is my full face of bareMinerals makeup - you can see how good the coverage is. I'm so impressed that a powder foundation could match my usual liquids but feel so light and even be good for my skin.

This eyeshadow compact in '2.0' is a great shade range for day and night as the pink is a great, shimmery base colour whilst the gold can be applied as heavily as you desire, depending on the occasion. The pink blush works the same, with a thin coverage for day wear, which can be thickened for a more dramatic evening look.

Powder brow colour isn't something I'd ever tried before but when combined with my usual pencil, it really defines the shape of the brow and blends in perfectly to add to the shape.

I've also never bought in to the gel eyeliner thing. bareMinerals shadow Liner can be applied dry for a smokey look, or, with a couple of drops of water, transforms into a smooth, easy to apply liquid liner. Genius!

I'm often dubious when it comes to mascara brushes as I like a lot of volume and I find thinner brushes don't tend to have such a good effect. However this Flawless Definition mascara has a smaller wand but still darkens, thickens and lengthens each lash as well as separating them for extra definition.

One of my favourite things was this Purely Nourishing Moisturiser. Worth £27, it's the best moisturiser I've used in a long time. I've been looking for a new morning moisturiser for a while, and now my search is over!

This Pretty Amazing lip gloss in 'Free Will' is another favourite, as I've always been sceptical about lip glosses, which stick to my hair and generally make a mess, and nudes which I worry will wash out my colour. 'Free Will' lives up to its 'Pretty Amazing' name. It's a gorgeous colour and despite looking, feeling and applying like a lipgloss, dries and sticks as a perfect nude, lipstick style colour.

And just to top it all off; How cute is all of this packaging?!

This Week's Top Buys #4

Lots of bargains this week from the car boot sale, but that's not all! On Monday I visited Kingston Market, as I do most weeks, and picked up a mint green jumper, a summery cream cardi and a couple of maxi skirts in powder pink and leopard print for just £12. My wardrobe isn't quite summery enough yet and since I can't deny my love for knitwear, I've switched to more seasonal styles instead of chunky knits.

Excuse Hello Kitty in the background!

I saw the monochrome 'peace sign' vest in the window of a tacky-looking shop on Whitechapel High Street. Full of cheap items that would fit in well at the Eastender's market, I still managed to strike gold as the vest and leopard print bralet (which has a Boohoo.com label) were £3 each!

Continuing from last week's jewellery love, I picked up yet more half price goodies in Miss Selfridge! I've been looking for a good body harness for a while as I'm not quite brave enough to throw myself in at the deep end with the bondage/horse riding ones with the leather straps.

As cool as they are, it just ain't me! I love that this one, originally £16.5, isn't too heavy but has the cool pyramid studs which can be worn on the front or back. In the warmer weather I'll team it with a black boob tube, or have it peeking out under a loose crop top. That's if I get myself back down to the gym in time!

I also got these cute leopard print cross earrings and yet another ear cuff (this one's gold, crappy iPhone quality made it silver) for £3.25 each.

But probably my favourite buy of the week was, shock horror, not clothing! I've been meaning to check out this Lush Lip Scrub for weeks and finally made the trip yesterday whilst on the King's Road. 

The need to drop some cash was clearly oozing from me as the sales girl immediately pounced on my vulnerability and showed me their new Gorilla Perfumes. They're available in full sized bottles (£23), atomizers (£11) and solid sticks (£6).

I was immediately sold as the girl showed me a scent called 'Vanillary', which smells like cakes and - selling point - you can even rub into your hair! It's jojoba oil-based so nourishes hair rather than drying it out!

After following me around and trying to sell me everything in sight I managed to conjure up some will power and explained that all I really wanted was some lip scrub. she confirmed what all bloggers seem to have said: Mint Julips is the way to go.

Also available in Bubblegum and Vanilla Chocolate, Mint Julips is the least sweet and, due to the peppermint oil, leaves a lingering fresh feeling on your lips as well as leaving them silky smooth.

So it's official: I am now a Lush addict!

Happy shopping! xo

Car Boot Sale Buys

Bonjour! I'm home from a day in Chelsea where the boy was handing out CVs to some very swanky restaurants. This minty green number I've been wearing will appear in my upcoming This Week's Top Buys post. My feet are killing me but, as promised, here I am blogging about yet more shopping sprees.

Although this one didn't really induce that feeling of guilt that I'm overwhelmed by oh so often. I've never properly browsed car boot sales before as there aren't that many in my area. I knew a school nearby held them occasionally, so I went to check it out. The result? I'm officially converted. My mind has been blown.

I only had an hour to browse and it felt like every corner I turned I stumbled across yet more cars. My top tip would be to make sure you have a LOT of cash, just in case! Overall I spent just £10 and got all of this:

Oversized denim jacket - £4; Cricket jumper - £1; Floral dress - £1; Peach blazer - £3; Shoes - £1

I've been looking for an oversized denim jacket for so long. Urban Outfitters charge around £80 which is obscene , Beyond Retro's are £35 which is slightly more acceptable but still not quite enough of a bargain for me, and every time I've watched one on eBay it's ended up selling for a bomb. This one, which isn't branded but fits exactly like the oversized Levis ones that everyone seems to be rocking, was a steal at £4. It was meant to be £5 but I'd run out of cash so she settled for my remaining change! Hence the tip to take enough cash!

I've recently sold a cricket jumper but for £1 I couldn't resist. I love the blue trim and at least I know it will sell well if i get bored of it. The little dancer-style shoes aren't in great condition but again, for £1 I don't care and the floral dress I plan to wear with DMs or creepers with a studded jacket just to give it a bit of an edge. It could definitely look a bit middle aged if worn wrong!

But probably my most impressive buy was this peach blazer - it's not such a bright orange in real life. It's by Silence and Noise and the seller told me she'd bought it in San Francisco. Having bought Silence and Noise items before from Urban Outfitters I Googled the blazer as soon as I got home and, if my research is correct, this would have retailed for around £68. Not only that but it's another win for the bright blazer hunt!

Now I'm off to bed as I have an open day for an internship in Shoreditch tomorrow, but I'll be back with more beauty and shopping updates as soon as it's over!

xo

ACID MAGAZINE LAUNCH

Post coming later about all my thrift bargains from the past two days but first, I need to promote the launch of ACID.

If you're around London on May 1st, then either click "Attend" on the Facebook event or send an email to get yourself on the list. It's going to be a crazy crazy night.

Sunday To Do List

Up super early to check out a local car boot sale before serving drinks to morons for 4 hours. Oh what a Sunday! This evening I'm dying my hair and watching the new American Pie movie for a review so depending on how all that goes I might have something positive to say later on.

Boring outfit today, and excuse the morning hair. Going to have to tie it up at work and it looks cold so I'll probably chuck a beanie on because I'm too lazy to sort it out.

Cardigan - Charity shop; Top - Beyond Retro; Disco pants - American Apparel; Creepers - eBay

• Finish Salmon Fishing In The Yemen review
• Start eBay listings
• Chose subject for profile feature
• Sort out blog layout
• Finish writing for ACID shopping blog 
• Order Directions dye
• Tidy room

Dye Time!

When I get a second away from work of every kind - bar, writing, uni - I'm dying my hair. My roots are growing and the colour has gone dull. I tend to do it every 3 months: January, April, July and October. I feel that by that time my hair has been left long enough to prevent damaging from overuse of dye, and the colour hasn't gone too too much, although I do have roots.

For the past year I've been using this L'oréal dye in "Mango Intense Copper." They've changed the packaging since my last buy and it's looking much better. But after a year of ginge, I want to mix it up a bit.

I love all the pastel colours going around at the moment, but they always seem to suit blondes best. This causes an issue for me as I refuse to go blonde for many reasons. Mainly because I don't want to kill my hair with bleach and I think it would look horrendous with my complexion. Nothing against all the blondes out there!

I've been liking the look of the Crazy Colour dyes but since a reliable source told me not to go there, I've turned to Directions. I love their range of eye catching colours but I just can't decide what to go with!

Torn between pastel pink, neon yellow, lavender and bright purple, it could take a while for me to decide as I've already had a mixed response from the people I've asked.

Any ideas?! Leave a comment with your opinion and in a few days I'll post with my decision, and hopefully some photos of my brand new look!

Have a good weekend!

xo

This Week's Top Buys #3: Shoe Addict

Tapestry wedges - ASOS; £60

Brothel Creepers - eBay; £23 + P&P

Flatform boots - 'Shoe Rack' Putney; £10

Patent studded flatforms - 'Shoe Rack' Putney; £10

I guess the title explains it all. As I said before, my life has taken a very boring turn with uni work piling up. And what better way to distract myself than with new shoes? 

I was moaning a week or so ago that the last pair of heels I bought was in January, which is a bloody long time for me. And now, look! I've been in search of summer heels for a while now, but while I wait patiently for the perfect pair to come along, flatforms will be my thing.

I recently dedicated a post to the patent studded babies on the far right, and from them, and addiction has sprung. Flatforms are the perfect way to give my short ass some height whilst not looking too OTT.

The creepers my Dad bought me arrived this morning and yesterday my boyfriend bought me the boot-style flatforms, probably to shut me up and stop me from dragging him into that horrible shop ever again! I mentioned before about the random shop in Putney that doesn't even have a sign - well these are another of their £10 wonders! (Nothing else is good, unless you like plastic knee-high boots.)

But the best thing in my life at the moment are these tapestry wedges. You'll remember them from my Wednesday Wish List a few weeks ago where I said I'd been spying on them from my Bookmark Bar for months? Well payday came and the boy bought me them and they are BEAUTIFUL!

These should be enough to keep me going for a while. Or so you'd think...

Lazy Sunday

It's my first day off since Monday yet I woke up naturally at 9.30. Why does that happen? Instead of lying in bed for hours I decided to be partially productive and wrote up a terrifying list of all my final deadlines: what needs to be done, when they're due, etc...

Only 3 weeks left of university. It's fair to say I'm scared now. I'm about to spend the day writing a 2000 word essay on journalism ethics, so excuse me for being boring, but such is my life..

Some exciting things have happened this week though, so hold tight and I'll be back with some fun posts as soon as my workload has decreased.

xo

Another Wednesday To Do List

Yeah I'm being one of those people who sit in Starbucks on their MacBook, sipping a chai latte and pretending they're doing something really important. Except I intend to actually do something important this time. Fed up of trying to work from my bedroom, I'm off to scrounge wifi and eat muffins and pray they bring some inspiration.

• Call RE film screenings 
• Email Banquet Records RE Big Day Out feature 
• Research Big Day Out feature 
• Finish first draft of '90s feature for ACID 
• Research Moonspoon Saloon for interview 
• Draft Moonspoon Saloon interview 
• Draft fashion piece for BBM print issue 
• Write & upload 1 funny news story 
• Select BBM newsletter stories & send 
• Send list of story ideas to River editor 
• Organise photos for ACID & email to Lucy 
• Respond to/organise emails

Beanie - H&M; Top - eBay; Necklace - eBay

Riding pants - American Apparel; Creepers - Random

I Love Jeffrey Campbell

BUT I'm a student and super super poor. What can you do?!
My housemate, who is also a student and doesn't even have a job, has three pairs of JC Litas: A classic black pair, a sliver glitter pair and a jewel studded pair available only in the US. Fair? No.

A few months ago I bought these from Hong Kong via eBay for around £20 - most of which I managed to get back over a dispute with the seller. Overall I'm happy with them and though I'm not one to pretend they are genuine - I'm proud of my bargains! - I'm often complimented on my "Jeffrey Campbells."

The heel isn't wooden, as you can see, but from a distance it's hard to tell and to be honest I love the shoe as it is so I don't mind too much, although I plan to invest in lots of my own real pairs as soon as I graduate/get a real job.

But recently I've found two pairs of shoes, fallen in love, debated for ages over whether or not to buy them, and a few weeks later found that they're Jeffrey Campbell replicas. That's got to be true love, right? I fall in love with copies before I even know the JC version exists?!

So a few weeks back I was strolling down Putney High Street when I saw these beauties in a shop window. The shop itself is horrendous. No sign, no name, the tackiest clothes known to man. And these gems. It's one of those stores where everything is always in the sale, and these were reduced to £10!

My boyfriend hated them, said they looked like irons, refused to even stand next to me as I ogled them through the shop window! But the other day as I browsed Sarenza I found these: The Jeffrey Campbell Stinger.

They're pretty much identical, except the wedge is higher, the toe is rounder and the studs are flat. All in all, I'm on to a winner as these are £110... 11 times my Putney bargains! So I ignored my boyfriend's disgust and ran straight to the store. Why I'd even given them a second thought at £10 I don't know, because despite what anyone else might think, I love love love them.

Creepers have inadvertently become my thing recently, and I'm still awaiting the arrival of my beautiful classic pair, so stand by for updates as soon as I've ripped off the packaging!