custom clippy bag

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely Connie on behalf of Clippy asking me if I'd like to customise a bag. The message itself was so personal and really heartfelt, it made me smile just reading it and obviously I jumped at the chance to take part and do a little DIY collaboration! I love the backstory of the company too - set up by Calypso Rose after she'd made her own bag and been asked where it was from so she decided to sell them on a stall on Portobello Road. Such a lovely little tale and I'm really happy to be a (tiny) part of it!

I opted for the biggest bag since firstly I am a junk-carrying fiend and secondly I had too many ideas about what to put on the bag. I've seen a few people use one large image and cut it into smaller sections which is a great idea, but I've gone for a bit of a mixed bag (excuse the pun)! Literally all the things I love. A bit of Disney here, some bands there, illustrations I adore (Krisatomic's Miu Miu ladies, an Audrey Kawasaki painting and a Rik Lee piece), Harry Potter stuff, my favourite superhero, a few other random bits (Flickr sources 1, 2, 3) and of course Beigel! Also took one picture out in the end and filled the pocket with some clothes labels and train tickets.

What do you think of these kinds of bags? Personally I think they're cute and they take me back to my childhood (bags with pressed plastic flowers in the pockets and blow up chairs anyone?). I'm really interested to hear any other ideas for customising too, I love the way you can easily change the whole look of the bag if you get bored! Also adore the little bow and badge that came with it!

Clippy are running a competition on their Facebook page at the moment, and if I get the most votes on my bag (although all the entries are really good!), all my readers will get 30% off Clippy bags/accessories! And you also get a chance to win your own bag by simply liking the fan page in the first place! The competition ends on Monday at 5pm, so get clicking and good luck!

little cream dress

  dress: topshop
hat: H&M
shoes: topshop
watch: michael kors
Got this dress with an exchange last week (totally the queen of returns and exchanges aren't I!) and wore it last night, and shamefully again today at work. It wasn't cheap so best get some wear out of it right?! Personally I think it's a little too long for me if I'm wearing flats, so I paired it with my Allegra boots. They have been getting their wear too if you couldn't tell! They were really scuffed from me being generally clumsy so gave them a cheeky polish at work today! I probably should have waited for a petite version of this dress, but I guess I can always get it taken up!

Went out for a workmate of my boyfriend's leaving drinks last night, and then ended up going out with his cousins in Brentwood and hanging with his family afterwards! Was an embarrassing barrel of laughs, take a look at my Twitter feed for a giggle if you want. Criiiiinge! Totally looking forward to seeing Kate, Lily, Michelle, Victoria and Emma (more on that later!) this week too, hopefully it won't be as messy as last night but I think we all know that it most definitely will. Hope everyone is having a good bank holiday weekend! I'm working tomorrow. Quelle surprise!

liz earle sheer skin tint

sheer skin tint in 01 bare*, skin repair moisturiser*, cleanse & polish starter kit*
First off I will say that I received these products for free to review them, as to avoid confusion. However that doesn't stop me being honest about the products, so please believe what I say! After all I think I would be pretty miffed if I'd read a blog post raving about a product, gone out and bought it only for it to be (for want of a better word) crap. Little disclaimer for you all!

The moisturiser and cleanser have been around for ages and the cleanser is actually probably my most favourite skincare product of all time. I would buy it over and over again and while the price is a bit higher than I would expect to pay for something like it (around £13 with two cloths) I think it is worth every single penny. My skin absolutely hates me when I run out of it! The moisturiser I've not gotten on with so well. I like it a lot better than the dry/sensitive version I tried a few months ago, but the smell of the product is really off putting (it kind of smells like weed?!). It's best to use a tiny bit at a time, and that's not something I'm really used to so I will persevere!

Last but by absolutely no means least is the new sheer skin tint. It's launching next month but I have been lucky enough to test it out early. It must be good since I have not gone a day without using it! I've not even used foundation over the top as I really didn't need it! I actually did put a bit over the top one day and hated it as it felt so cakey! To be honest sometimes I am prone to over-doing it with foundation just to 'be sure' so this product really is something! A tad pricey at £21 but the best product I've ever used as a base. Cross my heart, hope to die (yes really)!

PS. Sorry I don't have any swatches but I left it at my boyfriend's totally by accident, am going to hate wearing foundation tonight! I have been wearing the skin tint in recent outfit posts though, just for a rough idea! It's basically just my own skin, but a million times better.

PPS. Another excellent side note: when you make your first order of the skin tint, you are sent a sample of each shade (3 in total - bare, beige and beach) to try before opening your purchase so you know it's the right shade! I don't know about you but I think that's brilliant!

studded bucket bag

alexander wang diego bucket bag
Isn't she just perfect? The Rocco bag has been uber popular in the blogosphere but I kind of think it's a bit done now. That and I don't always have an arm free to hold a bag! The Diego, however, can be held like that or slung over your shoulder, and is so pretty! Sure it's not the conventional type of pretty, but I like it lots. Obviously I'm not loving the £695 price tag, so I've been adding rip-offs to my watch list on eBay for literally months on end. I've also tried to track down some similar styles on the high street and hoped something would catch my eye. Here are a few picks:



L-R, top-bottom: zara, urban outfitters, topshop, river island, topshop, H&M
My favourite out of the lot would have to be the Zara offering (click the link to see all the little diamonds! So cutes!) but I feel I would probably only want to use that for special occasions and so on, whereas the Diego 'style' one is more suitable for daytime too? I feel like my perfect ones always end up being the most pricey as well (looking at you UO..) but hey what can you do! I was thinking about getting the H&M one and customising it myself but I saw it in store and it was really plastic looking! Probably going to end up getting the eBay version and maybe getting the Zara one for my birthday or something. What do you think? Are bucket bags for you or not so much?

ampersand

  jumper: topshop
trousers: topshop
Beigel actually has a more grumpy photo face than me! He always looks like such a misery guts. Went to the vets the other day and we were told he needs to lose a quarter of his body weight. He's 6kg which I guess is quite a lot for a tiny pooch! Less treats and smaller portion sizes, same goes for me since I feel bad eating around him and could do with a little slimming down myself!

Today marked the day I wore my faux leather skinny trousers that I got yesterday with an exchange. Had a bit of trouble doing them up at first since it's hard to pull a zip straight when it's behind you! Had a panic moment thinking I'd put on weight but after that hiccup I found they were surprisingly comfy. Think my bum was a little too 'out there' today though, could be worse though! Also gave the jumper its debut today since the weather was so bad, it's so soft! It comes in blue too which is really lovely! If I was made out of money I'd totally get that one as well!

Not really liking the look of this lighting, I took some photos when I got in but they were blurry and then Chinese food and EastEnders got in the way. Looks like a lot of my photos are going to look like this again soon anyway as the days are getting shorter and all!

glossybox august 2011

KMS California HairStay style boost, Avaha Mineral Body Lotion,
Murad Cleanser, Rebel Nails wraps, Daniel Sander Baby Jet mascara
Got this month's GlossyBox the other day. A bit hit and miss but I am generally pleased with the box and its contents! I was really happy to get a mascara although I would have been happier with the Jumbo Jet rather than Baby Jet as the one I got is suitable for short lashes (which I don't have!). The KMS product is the weirdest thing ever, it crackles up in your hand and is really cold, I used it the other day but my hair felt awful after. I'm not going to blame that product though since I used up some conditioner I'd had for a while so it might have been no good (gross) and I let it air dry which always seems to make my hair go greasy quicker? The nail wraps aren't to my taste at all so I'll sell them if anyone's interested. The body lotion is probably my favourite thing, I love the smell! Also I have another one of the Murad samples from the iFabbo event last month which is kind of annoying really! I like the smell but it doesn't really suit my skin type. Boo hoo!

feathers

  dress: love*
belt:primark
necklace: galibardy
ring: primark
sunglasses: girlprops
nails: opi stranger tides
Yet another outfit post featuring the sunglasses. You really can tell when I don't have lots of time to take photos when I'm wearing them! Didn't realise how dark it was getting so had to snap quickly, only to knock half of my chest of drawers over. It's going to be a fun night.

Won this dress in Lauren's competition a while ago and love it (excuse the wordplay)! Wore it the other day with a black blazer, tights and little black ankle boots. The best kinds of dresses are those that can be dressed up or down, and this is one of those dresses. It's a lovely silky material and I've had loads (literally, loads) of compliments on it since I first wore it. Definitely glad I chose this one now as I was torn between two! Will look lovely with sandals too I think. Perfect!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Am working all week (again), not really looking forward to it but money is money! Actually looking forward to going back to uni for my final year even if it means a massive workload, at least it's a welcome change!

off topic

coat: H&M (2009)
Was going to post an outfit tonight but I'm not at home so it will have to wait. Currently tucked up in my boyfriend's bed because the weather is crap and it's cold (hello August, have you forgotten to be nice and hot or something). He's started training for rugby again so I'm waiting for him to get home! Boredom lead me to having a nosey through old photos on his Mac and I found this snap from last year in Berlin of me and our friend Jamie! Check out my ginger hair (desperately miss it although I told myself I won't put dye on my hair ever again).. also looking forward to wearing my fur coat again! Feels cold enough to snuggle up in it right now to be honest!

Think my Glossybox package arrived today because everyone else seems to have got theirs, I won't find out till tomorrow though. Post coming up at the weekend! Have ruined the surprise by seeing other people's blog posts, oh well! Stuff looks good this month anyway! Did you get a box?

boudoir prive august

Sachajuan Hair repair, Olavie Antioxidant Body Butter, Jane Iredale PureLash,
Bloom teas, Babore cream, ETAT LIBRE D'ORANGE perfume
Was greeted with my Boudoir Prive box when I got home from work today. Just the thing to cheer me up after a long stressful day! You may have seen my Glossybox posts before, and obviously some people may be sitting there thinking 'what the hell is this brand' and so on. What people need to remember is that because it's a French company etc. then of course we will not have heard of some of the brands, and like Lily says it would probably impress non-bloggers (there needs to be some kind of 'muggle' word for them!) more because let's face it, as bloggers we can at times be a little bit snobby with brands we haven't heard of. Looking forward to trying these products out though, especially the hair repair and the lash extender! Did you get a box?

PS. Forgot to mention you can get your first box (if you haven't ordered already) for half the price, which is normally £10, using the code '1BOX12'. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

black and white

  top: primark
skirt: Miss Selfridge
kimono: diy via topshop
necklace: h&m
ring: ASOS
nails: barry m berry ice cream & eyeko vintage polish
sunglasses: girlprops
watch: michael kors
Didn't actually wear this today (wore my wolf tee but in pictures it looked rubbish with the skirt!) but just wanted to show you all this cute little sleeveless top I found in Primark last week. Scalloped collar and little buttons that aren't actually buttons, lovely. Also love this little necklace, you can alternate between black and gold bunnies! Think I might wear this tomorrow!

topshop blush

nutmeg, flush, neon rose, head over heels, high five, powdered, pop
I said I might be doing a swatch post for the Topshop blushes I have and here we are! I quite shamefully have nearly all of them, and I'm not sure if some of them have been discontinued or are just out of stock online! It must say something if I have so many though, I love them!

The original formula was cream to powder, but recently they have released a couple of shades in a normal pressed powder formula. You can see the packaging is the same size with a slightly different design on the top so you can tell what's what! I think the black and white designs are really cute although if you use a stipple brush (with the cream ones) like me, the product can make the packaging a little messy! Nothing too drastic though and for £6 a pop you can't really complain.

The new products are pretty good but still I love the cream formulas the best. My favourite colour of them all is probably Neon Rose, the perfect coral! Get it if you can! Head Over Heels is lovely too but not as vibrant. The new powder blush in Powdered (yes really) reminds me of my Briar Rose beauty powder from the MAC Venomous Villains collection. Wearing it in this post!

Have you tried or purchased any of these? Would you be happy comparing them to more high end products? I quite like the look of Pinch for winter too so if you have that, let me know!

peppermint patty

  top: new look
skirt: topshop
ring: me and zena
nails: barry m berry ice cream & eyeko vintage polish
These pictures make the top look really see-through and they're a bit out of focus but despite that I actually quite like this little outfit. Seeing Kate's new post with purchases I was reminded of this top lurking in the darkness of my wardrobe. I bought it a month or so ago and never got around to wearing it so thought I better give it some love! Also wearing my new skirt, I wasn't sure about it because of the price tag (£26) but it's a nice length, fits me properly around the waist and I will have it forever! And obvz it has the cutest little bow on it!

Today was fairly normal, no talk of riots in the area although quite a few windows were boarded up on my way to work this morning. Didn't get to leave early today either, boo! (For the best!)

PS. Haven't done leopard nails in a while! Lily's (re)inspired me - perfect match with my top!