A sale bargain and a sneaky OOTD...

I saw this dress weeks and weeks ago in Warehouse and snapped these pictures when I tried it on. It's totally weird, but I hate coming out of the fitting room to show whoever I'm with what things look like - there are too many people looking, the lights are unforgiving, I don't have the right shoes on - basically a multitude of things are just. not. right. So I always take a few snaps for a second opinion.

The dress was initially £75 and I really could not justify paying that, it was just a little too out of my price range for another dress that I probably didn't need. But oh, did I want it. I absolutely LOVE this dress, it's a grown-up floral pattern that doesn't make me look like a ten year old and it is the most classic, beautiful fit. I just think it's the most classy thing I've ever laid eyes on! When I imagine how I want to look, this is the dress I see. So you can imagine my utter glee when I saw it in the sale yesterday; there was only one left and as I approached everything went into slow motion, as I turned the tag around to reveal my size! Wahoo!

As my Mother says, 'fart-arsing around'

It was £35 in the sale, but I got my sister to buy it for me with her student discount, 20% at the moment, so it was only £28! I think it was most definitely meant to be.

I wore it today in the absolute blistering heat for a very sophisticated trip to a posh garden centre (is there such a thing?!) with my boyfriend. I will admit it was absolutely too hot for a dress of this fit and fabric and I swiftly changed when I got home. 

I think I might make a thing of these outfit posts and maybe I'll graduate to proper photos in my garden or something one day soon!

♥

NOTD #4

It's a new day. The Olmypics have fled my little seaside town, it's raining, and I've got earache. So to cheer myself up I've painted my nails with a shade I haven't used for yonks. I love doing this, I use a nail varnish that I've sort of fallen out of love with and remind myself all over again why I liked it in the first place.
 

Revlon Nail Enamel in 211 Charming

I love this colour! I really like having pastel nails, but think they can look a bit cheap sometimes, so I really like that this isn't an in-your-face shade of lilac, but slightly more subtle. It's another one of those colours that renders me stupid and makes me stare at my nails for prolonged amounts of time. I don't think this nail varnish gets the recognition it deserves either, due to other rather more famous shades of lilac hogging the limelight!

A little glittery accent from Topshop's Razzmatazz - £6

To begin with I thought it would be really difficult to apply because it has a really thin brush, but it goes on an absolute dream and only takes two coats to reach opacity. It's just so summery, I can't get enough of it. At the last minute I decided to add a glittery accent, but didn't want to go overboard and ruin everything, so just painted half of one nail with Topshop's Razzmatazz. I also didn't want to use too much because I credit this with ruining my nails last time I used it! Hardest nail varnish to remove EVER.

On a side note, check out the arm candy! I hardly ever wear jewellery, so this is a big thing for me! I saw it in Topshop at the weekend and loved it. It's little spikes if you can't see it properly.. 

Happy Monday!

♥

Real Techniques Blusher Brush

There are a zillion posts on this already, but I love it so much I wanted to do a post on it anyway. I picked this up in Boots yesterday with my hard saved Boots points, which felt so good! Although it took SO long to collect them and now they're all gone! Just like that. Better get saving again!

Real Techniques Blusher Brush - Boots, £9.99.

 Now, this is coming from the biggest makeup brush cynic around. I just never understood why people would put makeup on with brushes when they had perfectly good fingers that did exactly the same job? It just seemed completely superfluous to me. I completely take it all back! I purchased the Real Techniques Core Collection after reading and hearing so much about the brushes and I will never look back.

I noticed the difference the first time I used the brushes; my foundation looked flawless and everything just looked generally better applied. I also noticed that my makeup stayed on for so much longer. Pre-brush, my makeup would have all but disappeared by lunchtime, but applying my makeup with the buffing brush was so much better; I now get home from work and my makeup still looks fresh(ish) and dewy! If you keep on top of washing your brushes too, then it's far more hygienic than rubbing your fingers all over your face. I can honestly I've noticed an improvement in breakouts since I started using makeup brushes.

I absolutely LOVE this brush. All of them in fact. It's so soft and makes my blusher look super natural. Who knew that a decent brush could make makeup look that much better?! I do think these brushes are rather on the pricey side, but so worth it. And if looked after properly, I can't see myself needing to buy anymore for quite a while!

♥

My Current Beauty Wishlist: August!

REN Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream, £27.00; Fekkai Glossing Cream, £25ish; Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua - Debenhams £32; Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum - Debenhams, £49 for 60ml;  This Works Perfect Legs Skin Miracle - £21.60; Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser - £14.25 for 100ml Pump Starter Kit.

I first tried this REN day cream when it came free with Red magazine and absolutely loved it. I've never actually used a day cream as such before, and I wasn't used to the texture and consistency to begin with, but it definitely grows on you. It absorbs quickly and smells really fresh and clean. I have very sensitive skin and I can definitely see I've seen a reduction in redness since using this. I've since bought a REN starter pack with four little deluxe samples in which contains another sample of this, so we'll see how it goes.

I first heard of this Fekkai fellow when FleurdeForce bought this glossing cream in LA. I don't even know the girl, obvs, but from watching her videos I trust her tastes implicitly. I've just seen this in TKMaxx for around £7, so I'm definitely going to pop back today to get one. I think they're around £25 at full price. I don't tend to do anything to my hair, apart from a bit of cheap shampoo and conditioner every other day, so I'm excited to see if I see a difference.

The Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua is a really boring one; mine has run out and in the week that I've been without it, I've decided I just can't be without it for much longer. I just love, love, love it. I've been using the YSL Touche Eclat foundation and for me, it just doesn't come close to Vitalumiere Aqua. Ooh, controversial.

The Jimmy Choo perfume is a totally random one. I walked past it in Debenhams, spritzed it onto me and LOVED it. It's just so unlike any other perfume I've ever used. In reality, I definitely won't be buying this, but it's right up there on the wishlist.

It wouldn't be a monthly wishlist without a leg product of some description. My legs still aren't looking their best and the promise that this product will fade imperfections, scars and bruising has got me hook, line and sinker. It's usually £36, but for some reason at the moment is only £21.60?! I'm not sure if this is a sale or just a limited offer, so hot foot it over to the 'this works' website if you fancy some.

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. Not much else to say! I'm just replacing something I've used up.

♥

NOTD #3; Go Team GB!

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I am absolutely gripped by the Olympics. I can't stop watching it. I'm really lucky to live in an Olympic host town, so we have HUGE screens up on the beach that are showing the Olympic coverage non stop. The atmosphere down there is amazing - it feels like you're really there. Of course when it's a sailing event you are, in fact, really there. I think the 'Inspire a Generation' thing is totally on point too, I absolutely want to be the next Helen Glover.

So, with all the patriotism floating about, I decided to get in on the nail art game. Thankfully, my sister has the steadiest hand in all the land, so I got her involved on this one. Union Flag nails!

Excuse the gin picture, I had to include it because it just looked SO British.

This is just my favourite ever. I love my nails like this, I just can't stop staring at them. I end up looking like a total moron at work because I just sit at my desk smiling down at my nails. So many people have asked me if they're nail wraps or stickers or whatever, because my sister has just done such a wonderful job. Props to her. It's extra amounts of fun to cheer on Team GB with nails like this, supporting from the sofa!

L to R: Rimmel, 030 Double Decker Red; Barry M, 66 Matt White; Essie, 92 Aruba Blue.

We decided that the best approach was to use a higher quality base so that it lasted longer and then just use cheaper colours over the top. I'm really glad we chose the Essie polish because I actually really like it on it's own, which is bizarre because I've always disliked blue nail varnish. It might not actually be called Aruba Blue, sorry about that, but the writing has rubbed off the top! If you want Union flag nails, these are definitely the exact shades to choose, the colours and the vibrancy of them are all perfect. Apart from the white, obviously. White is just white.

♥