New Look Haul

The warm and sunny weather we've had lately has made me realise that I don't have any nice summer dresses to swish around in, so that problem had to be solved with a quick trip to New Look. I find it so much easier to find clothes I like in summer than in the winter months. Everything is bright and colourful and happy - perfect for somebody like me who doesn't do "muted" or "understated" when it comes to clothes.

I love the loud, bold print on this dress and the cut is also incredibly flattering for my hourglass figure. It ties in at the waist and the foldover V-front gives amazing cleavage. I made it as far as the pub toilet after buying this and had to put it on straight away! The material is nice and feels cool and airy even in hot temperatures.

What do you do if you can't decide between two dresses? You buy them both! I wasn't too sure at first about this because of the longer sleeves, but it looks so much better when worn than it does on the hanger. The material is very stretchy, so it hugs every curve, while the loud print hides any bulges in places we'd rather not have them. When you come out of the changing room and your boyfriend says "This dress makes you look like Lana Del Rey" it would be criminal not to buy it.

I wasn't too sure about this floral headband at first, but now I'm so glad I got it! This is what would be considered a festival essential, but then I like to look every day as if I'm at a festival, haha.

And finally, no summer outfit would be complete without a matching pair of shades. I love the unique yellow colour on these and the amazing palm tree print on the sides of the frame. I feel like I'm instantly being transported to Miami wearing these!

What was the last thing you bought from New Look?

April Wish List

Green Tropical Floral Print Shirt, River Island, £26 // Melting Cleansing Balm, Merumaya, £14.50 // Black Lace Sleeve Swing Dress, River Island, £35 // Anchors Ahoy Slim Leather Journal, Paperchase, £15 // Set Sail Wayfarer Sunglasses, Forever 21, £3.50 // The Beatles Sea of Monsters Slip Ons, Vans, £52 // Pink Pineapple Print Bodycon Dress, New Look, £14.99 // Cutout Chevron Ring Set, Forever 21, £3.15 // Wooden Tray, H&M, £12.99


Can you sense a theme in this month's wish list? Yep, I feel like I desperately need a holiday, ideally somewhere in a warm and sunny place right by a beach. While at home still I can always cheer myself up with cool nautical accessories like the journal or the ridiculously cheap sunglasses.

Tropical prints are another option. I somehow really want a Hawaii shirt, but I feel like the light River Island blouse would probably make for a more grown-up and feminine version. I'm don't wear dresses anywhere near as much as I should, but the pineapple print on the New Look one would certainly tempt me to get it out of the wardrobe. I also like the black River Island dress for slightly more formal occasions and I find this type of cut to be incredibly flattering.

The Merumaya cleansing balm is something I want to get my hands on after hearing so many great things about it. I actually just bought a new cleanser, but it's not as great as I thought it would be, so it might be time tow switch soon.

Finally, I couldn't help myself but to slip in another home ware item. I've never looked at the home section of H&M before, but after seeing quite a few of their items featured on various blogs I had a quick peek and I really like the vast majority of items that I saw. This tray would look great in the kitchen filled with several pots of fresh herbs.

February Wish List

Striped Sweatshirt, Pull & Bear, £17.99 // 3D Globe Pendant Necklace, Urban Outfitters, £12 // Heart-shaped Print Pink Skirt, Romwe, £18.12 // Coins Bracelet, Asos, £6 // Reve de Miel Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm, Nuxe, £9.50 // MOTO Faux Leather Fronted Leigh Jeans, Topshop, £42 // MOTO Folk Embroidered Hotpants, Topshop, £34 // Origami Animal Earrings, Love Hearts and Crosses, £10 // Pink Tribal Print Friendship Bracelets Pack, New Look, £6.99 // Geo Darling Boxy Tee, Forever21, £11.50

Slowly but surely the spring collections are seeping into shops (the first month of the year is over now, after all) and I'm all over them! I always struggle to find clothes I like in the winter months, as everything tends to be black and grey and really, really dull. 

And just because it's still winter doesn't mean I can't start looking for a new pair of shorts. That's what tights were invented for, after all!

I also couldn't help but sneak in a Valentine's themed item, either. The heart print Romwe skirt looks like it's the perfect cut to do an awful lot of swirling and swooshing in.

The Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm was featured on pretty much every beauty bloggers 2013 favourites and as I'm in dire need of an intense over-night lip balm ever since I finished my last tube of 8 hour cream, it's about time I give this one a go.

Two other items on this list are also completely down to other bloggers. First of all, we have those faux leather Topshop jeans. I've always wanted some leather trousers, but was a bit weary about pulling the look off. Then I saw these over on Lily's blog (click here for the post) and fell in love with the half denim, half leather design. Unfortunately, they seem to have sold out online, but you might be able to still find them in stores. Over on Sailboat (click here for the post) Jenny introduced me to Love Hearts and Crosses and I want pretty much everything from the site, but I settled with the Origami hummingbird earrings for now. The site seems to be slightly temperamental with direct links, but they're definitely still there, so you might just need to search for them manually.

The globe pendant necklace holds special meaning to me, as one of my goals for this year is to save some money to finally go travelling. It would be a constant reminder that I need to get out and see the world!

I've also seen a similar bracelet to the coin one above a few months ago, but then I couldn't find it anywhere and regret not having made a purchase when I had the chance. I'm not doing the same mistake twice!

April Wish List

Aloha Pastel Palm Tree Print Sweater, Glamorous, £36 // Neon Green Pink and Gold Stud Chain Bracelet Stack, New Look, £6.99 // Tropical Print Blouse, H&M £9.99 // Animal Cutoff Runner Shorts, Topshop, £15 // Coral Cut Out Sleeveless Skater Dress, River Island, £32 // Rose Gold Watch With Blue Face, Marc By Marc Jacobs, £229 // Neon Tie Dye Skater Dress, Topshop, £29 // Swallow Head Band, Made, £25

This month's lust list may be a tad late, but boy has it managed to grow. Anyone who's read a single fashion post on my blog will know that I'm obsessed with prints. Animal print, tropical print, galaxy print, whatever, as long as it's bright and colourful!

I honestly cannot wait for this supposed heat wave to hit this weekend and to get some bright and light spring clothes out. I want to be a hippie and let my hair down, wear tie dye and headbands and friendship bracelets and hang out with my friends in the park. And when it's time to grow up and get back to reality I want to slick on this gorgeous Marc Jacobs watch and feel like I'm a proper lady.

A girl can dream, right?

Haul Alert! Westfield Stratford Shopping City

This is a bit of a belated haul post - I wanted to do it for ages, but just couldn't get around to it, so apologies for the delay. My boyfriend had to go to an exhibition for work and asked if I wanted to come down to London with him for a couple of days and as I had a bit of time off I said yes. It turned out that our hotel was a Premier Inn right on top of the new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, so I made the most of my day alone and went on a bit of a spending spree.

First up is this dress I picked up from New Look. It's not actually by New Look but by a label called Mela Loves London, which had its own little section upstairs in the stores. I desperately need some more "smart" clothes that I can wear to the office and I totally fell in love with the cute polka dot print and the soft wool material. The cowl neck is also incredibly flattering. At £25 it was also a bargain!

I also picked up this ring while I was there, which was on sale for £1! I don't really know why it was in the sale section, as they also had loads of these rings for the full price and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

Next I popped into Forever21 where I just couldn't resist this sweater. It's got Beagle puppies on it (*excited squeal*)! They had these with all sorts of animals, but the Beagles have got to be by far the cutest. It's one of those things that's so cheesy it's great again and will make a lovely cover up for cosy, lazy weekends. I think this was about £15, but I don't really remember anymore.

I also went into a shop called Beauty Base which mainly sold cheap perfumes - not as in awful crappy perfumes, but normal perfumes for less money - and cheap makeup - as in awful crappy makeup. I picked up a pack of five mini nail varnishes by L.A. Colors, as I loved the shades in the pack. I haven't tried any of these yet, so I can't comment on their colour density or staying power, but seeing as it cost me a pound or so for five nail polishes I won't be overly sad if they turn out to be rubbish.

I also got this bath and shower gel as I was running out and this smells absolutely gorgeous. It's a very strong fruity and refreshing scent, which might not be for everybody, but it's something I really love under the shower as it always manages to wake me up, even on the bleakest of mornings. Again, at round about two pounds for a 500ml bottle this is a complete bargain.

I also had to keep myself entertained, so I popped down to WHSmith and bought two books which were on a "buy-one-get-one-for-£1" offer. I already finished reading "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" and it has already become one of my favourite books ever, I really can't recommend it enough.

I bought this blusher from Topshop after I read loads and loads of positive reviews about their blushes. As you can see I've already been using it quite a bit. This is a cream formula in "Pinch", a gorgeous deep pink / fuchsia colour. The colour payoff of this product is absolutely amazing (see swatches below), it looks exactly like it does in the pot which is so rare. It's a creamy formula that dries into a powder on your skin, so you've got to blend it quickly before it dries. It's easy to overdo it with this blusher as it's just so colour intense, so it's better to just carefully dab it on rather than swirling your fingers around the pan and then to build it up on your cheeks as you go along.
It makes my face look really fresh and glowing, as if I'd just come back from a winter walk in the snow, which was exactly what I was looking for, so I'm extremely pleased with this product.

As I went through my lipsticks the other day I noticed that I always buy pretty much the same shade: a slightly greyish nude pink. In all seriousness, all my lipsticks are pretty much the same and only differ in finishes - some are glittery, some are sheer and some are matte. So I decided it's about time I got something a bit more brave, especially as there tends to be a recurring trend for strong lips every winter.
I went for this super intense fire engine red by Dior. It's actually called "Rouge Dolce Vita" from the Diorific line. How amazing is the packaging? It's a long lasting formula, so it's a good idea to apply lip balm beforehand, though it's still relatively creamy compared to other long lasting lipsticks I've tried. Oh, and when I say long lasting I mean long lasting. This stayed on my lips for hours, despite several drinks and a two course meal. You'd still need to touch it up from time to time, as it lost its sheen after a while, but I sure won't mind to pull this beauty out of my handbag any time soon.

Top: Diorific lipstick in Rouge Dolce Vita
Bottom: Topshop blush in Pinch