Orange is the Happiest Colour! Shopping Picks June 2015...

So I'm REALLY trying to kerb my spending lately... no really I am! We're off on holiday to California later in the year and so the planning, booking, saving has started. At the same time that's really hard because all I want to do is buy outfits to wear while I'm there! So this month I think I've actually been really/pretty good. Here are my picks this month, weirdly there's definitely an orange theme going on, but then again, 'Orange is the happiest colour!'

First up is this gorgeous slip dress from Topshop, you can buy it here. I fell in love with this online and picked it up in my local Topshop so I could pick one with a particularly nice layout of the print. One negative for me was how long it was! I'm 5'9" so pretty tall but this was just a really unwearable length (for me), It would have been nice at that length with heels but I wanted to be able to wear it with sandals so after washing it which shrunk it a tiny bit anyway I only had to take off a few inches (check your local dry cleaners for seamstresses who will be able to do things like this professionally). Now I LOVE it! I'm wearing it here with my new River Island sandals and 'Play purse' beaded clutch. (Does anyone remember having these as small purses when you were little? they were so fun I couldn't resist getting one!)  

Another absolutely favourite purchase this month is this incredible paisley print blouse from Warehouse, available here. I'm really into shirts and shorts at the moment so this outfit is on the California list. I'm wearing it with another orange purchase, my river island fringed duffle bag, you can buy that here. And the same river island sandals because I never want to take them off. You can buy them here (and I'd recommend you do). 

In Topshop I also picked up this rust playsuit (buy it here), its jersey so it's SO comfortable and the top layer has really cute detailing, it looks a little dark in this photo but the colour is really easy to wear with either black or tan. Add sandals and a straw hat and your done! If it's not for you then it's also available in black here, you can't go wrong with a little black playsuit. The shoes I'm wearing are from asos (here) and the bag is from Thailand but there is lots like this on eBay (Accessorize eat your heart out).

Sophie x

Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow, The Vintage Vamp...

I'd heard a lot of good things about Charlotte Tilbury make up, seen articles in a few magazine and I follow her on my instagram, so when I was walking through Selfridges in Birmingham and it was nice and quiet I decided to stop and check out the goods. 

I was actually heading over to MAC for a new bronzer and I don't know whether it was the beautiful shiny packaging or the really lovely sales lady but in true Becky Bloomwood style I ended up blowing my budget and picking up Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow... annnd an eyeshadow pallet. I mean if your going to go over budget you might as well do it in style. 

So first up is Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow £49 in Selfridges (you can buy it here). I'll start with the packaging... it is GORGEOUS, yes I'm a sucker for things like this and I know it doesn't make any difference to the product inside but it does add a little something and the shiny rose gold compact is perfect, there's a real vintage feel to the outside and a large mirror inside. The powders are labelled with 'sculpt' which is your bronzer, 'to apply to cheek hollows, temples, jawline, sides & tip of nose & blend' and 'highlight' which you apply second to the 'top of cheek bones, centre of nose, bow of lips & brow bone to give you candle lit skin.' Basically by using it its really easy to emphasize your features without having a heavily contoured look, and you can do in a minute. I found you didn't need to put much on (especially of the 'sculpt' and it was a really natural finish. I've since worn it on an evening out and as my over all make up look was darker/heavier its easy to layer up without you looking orange at all. If I were richer it would be my new everyday make up, as it is I'm keeping it for the days when people I know will see my face not just for food shopping and the post office. 

Now the Bronze and Glow I could kind of claim I needed, the eyeshadow pallet I did not. But the lovely assistant on the counter looked amazing! her make up was perfect (not really a surprise) and so I asked her what she had on, I now own that. 'The Vintage Vamp' luxury palette £38 

(you can buy it here). 

  Again, the packaging is beautiful! the colours inside are gorgeous! I did find I had to layer them up a bit to get a strong colour but that may be deliberate so that you can have more of a daytime or an evening look. On the back of the palette there is a numbered guide for 'Prime, enhance, pop and smoke'. I think its quite obvious from the colours what goes where but if you don't often wear eyeshadow there is lots of Charlotte Tilbury create the look videos online. I'm keeping it for evenings out as its almost to beautiful to use and I'll continue to use my Urban decay Naked palette for daily use, but I also wanted to mention a really good cheaper alternative to both... The Body Shop Cube Palette, I LOVE these and have used various ones for the last 10 years! seriously.  

Charlotte Tilbury 'The Vintage Vamp' palette £38 available here. 

Charlotte Tilbury 'The Uptown Girl' complete beauty set £165 available here. 

If your new to Charlotte Tilbury make up she has a quite fabulous system of grouping make up together for a complete 'look', ie 'The Golden Goddess', 'The Vintage Vamp', 'The Uptown Girl' etc, so if you wanted (and had the money) you can buy the complete look knowing all your make up products will complement each other. Sounds like brilliant marketing? It is! but it also makes so much sense, not all colour combinations go together and this way you won't finish your make up, go to put on a random lipstick and kind of ruin it. 

Also while paying for my new goodies, the assistant took my details and put me on their system, meaning that for example if I needed to pick up another one of a lipstick I really liked but couldn't for the life of me remember the name then they would. Or as she suggested, if you sent in your boyfriend to buy you a birthday gift they would know which ranges you liked/had and could recommend something that would go. Brilliant Idea!! Except then he would know how much this all cost so maybe not actually... 

Another little tip... for £35 (I think, don't hold me to that) you can also have your make up done for a wedding, night out, date night and you then redeem the £35 against products you want to buy! I only found this out afterwards! But MAC also do the same for £30 so it's worth checking if you have a favourite make up brand/counter.

In all not only does Charlotte Tilbury seem like a really nice person with fantastic hair she makes lovely make up to! Hope you've enjoyed my review, Sophie x

Wearing; Skin-Charlotte Tilbury 'Filmstar Bronze & Glow',
Eyes- Charlotte Tilbury 'The Vintage Vamp'
and Lips- MAC 'Real Doll' 

See my blog post on MAC 'Real Doll' here. 

Wedding Season, ASOS picks...

So one of my favourite occasions to shop for has to be a wedding, sadly this year we are actually on holiday for the only one we have been invited to, but next year we have three wedding's and all are really special friends so I'm super excited and have actually started planning outfits already (one down, two to go).

I think the main thing to remember when wedding shopping is that it is a wedding your shopping for, it's someone's most important day of their life and it's important to respect that. So my main rules when it comes to shopping for that perfect outfit would be...

(Left to Right) Asos Nude Bandeau Midi Dress, Asos Pleated Midi Skirt, Asos Salon Drape Back Dress.   

1. Do not under any circumstance unless you are asked to by the bride wear white! It's actually a unwritten or quite possible written rule that you just shouldn't. I know white outfits just scream weddings but that's because it's pretty likely the bride herself will be wearing a white of some sorts dress. If you want to go light and bright try a blush or beige option instead. It's also advisable to not wear the same colour as the bridesmaids, you don't want to look like a miss matching part of the wedding party. Saying this, I think that every wedding I've been to I've seen someone break this rule and they looked lovely doing so, you might have even told the bride you were planning on wearing this colour in advance, but the chances are she's just too polite to say anything.

(Left) Asos Crop top Prom Dress,  Asos Jacquard Co Ord. 

2. Keep covered, Yes you have fantastic boobs, great legs and killer abs and you've worked hard and earned them in the gym working out 7 days a week but your best friend's wedding isn't the place to show that off. Remember they'll usually be grandparents and children there so dress for a family party and save the shorter/skimpier outfit for the hen do. You want to look fantastic but you don't want to give anyone a heart attack. Plus it's fun to 'dress up' more than usual, wear something that you'd never usually get a chance to wear, go midi or full length and add a fascinator or hat. You can't go through life and never have worn a hat to a wedding!

(Left to Right) Asos Vintage Prom Dress, Asos Floral Culotte, Asos Curve Floral Maxi Dress.  

3. Remember that there will be a photographer and these photos will be cherished forever by the happy couple, personally I like looking back on old photos and seeing how '70's or 90's etc that people look with their outfits, if you're not a fan of that go with a classic or vintage look instead that will be more timeless in twenty years when the bride and groom dig out the album to show their teenage children.

Speaking of photos you live and you learn, looking back on some of last year's photos my tan (which looked great at the time) looks *pretty* bright now, great when you're standing next to other tanned lovelies but when your next to your untanned boyfriend not so great, Something to remember when your prepping. Thank god for Instagram filters.

Maxi dresses are perfect for adding a bit of glamour to your outfit, how often do you get to swish around in a full length dress and heels... (Left) Fame and Partners one shoulder Maxi Dress, (Right) Oasis Printed Maxi dress.

 If you've brought a dress from a popular high street shop and your worried that there is that really small chance someone will have the same then dress it up completely differently to how the shop did, whatever you do don't buy the same whole outfit, shoes and accessories off the shop mannequin, if you do then there's a chance someone else will have to, look online at shops like Crown andGlory who make custom head pieces.. get one to match your dress and pick other colours out of it for your shoes and bag. If you're really worried about someone wearing the same then shop in advance, I tend to start keeping my eyes peeled for an outfit the day the invite lands on the doorstep. A lot of guests might shop the month or so before and so again it does increase your chances of picking the same, especially if the other guests might be the same sort of age and shop in the same shops- we all have our favourite go to ones don't we. This way you might also be able to pick something up in a sale or with an offer, just make sure it's something you love or can wear to another occasion if you do change your mind before the big day. 

Clockwise from top right... Aldo Pearl Box Clutch, Steve Madden Jewelled Sandal,
Star Mela Embellished Clutch, Asos Heartwarming Sandals. 

 I'm not really into matching your dress when it comes to accessories, although I'm sure there are some photos from 2008 that probably say otherwise and will haunt me forever, but blending colours from a similar colour palette or deliberately clashing is much more fun. It also means you don't have to buy a new bag to match every time you buy new shoes, although you can of course still get a new bag anyway!

  Now I really could have talked for ages on this subject and listed hundreds of dresses that I loved but I've already gone on for quite a while here so I'll leave you with my very favourite picks below, I've used asos for this post as personally I think their photos showing the dresses/products are the best online- at least from the websites I regularly use annnnd they have so many different brands on there! Hope it's given you some inspiration... Sophie x

(Left) Fame and Partners Maxi dress, (Right) Needle and Thread Embellished Dress.
  Needle and Thread has to be my favourite dress brand at the moment! The quality and design are both fantastic, they bring out new ranges on Asos several times a year and each one becomes my new favourite. 

MAC Duty Free Treats...

So last month one of my oldest friends and I took a little, quite last minute trip over to Spain for a few days, Obviously the main reason I said yes when she suggested it was for some quality time with each other while working on our tans, but it was closely followed by the fact I'd get to go to the MAC Cosmetics stand at the airport. That's just how much I love it! keep your duty free alcohol I'll take as many lipsticks as possible.

Sadly on this occasion 'as many as possible' was just two, not that I actually needed either of them but all those rows of beautifully organised brightly coloured lipsticks just call to me and after lots of umming and ahing between the two of us, she went for Creme Cup and I picked up these...

'Pink Nouveau' (Left) and 'Real Doll' (Right) and yes they do look very similar standing here, its kind of obvious what colour I'm drawn to isn't it, but as you can see from the swatches they are pretty different... no really they are!

(Left) MAC Real Doll and (Right) MAC Pink Nouveau.

MAC 'Real Doll' 

MAC 'Pink Nouveau'

'Real doll' is actually a very light dewy pink with a light shine and 

semi sheer coverage making it perfect for all day every day,

 where as 'Pink Nouveau' while you could easily still wear it in the day it has a much stronger pop of pink (a very gorgeous Barbie pink) so for me I think its going to be more of a going out for drinks sort of shade. Its a gorgeous satin finish and I found both lasted really well through out the day. 

Thanks for reading, if you'd like to see more beauty posts let me know, 

Sophie x

Samantha Wills Summer Jewels...

So last week I had an amazing parcel arrive from Australia, My latest Samantha Wills order had arrived and it was just as beautiful as always. Since then I've been itching for an excuse to wear them and last night's date night for food and the cinema turned out to be perfect with them just dressing up my casual outfit enough. 

After a lazy day of a bit of exercise, a bit of cleaning, a bit of work and quite a lot of lazing around I didn't really fancy putting on clothes but these new trousers from George at Asda were the perfect step up from pyjamas, I picked them up in store while doing my weekly shop but you can buy them online here. For £10 you'd be crazy not to, these sort of loose fitting comfy trousers are also my favourite travelling on holiday outfit. I've paired them with a Topshop chiffon cami top and some Primark sandals but the finishing touches are of course the jewellery! 

Samantha Wills 'Dream with me' necklace and her signature Bohemian Bardot ring.

Bohemian Bardot Ring in Sorbet is currently sold out but a similar one in Strawberry Marble is available here
Star ring  also shown is from Topshop.  

Bohemian Bardot Ring in Turquoise and gold available here.
My favourite Gem stone, my birth stone and my favourite colour for jewellery, the winner is this one! 

Since Christmas I've made quite a few Samantha Wills orders, some would call it an addiction, I myself call it the start of a beautiful collection. I first saw her range on her Instagram through following quite a few Aussie designers, there's just something about their style that I love and so with some birthday money I treated myself and I've been regularly shopping every time there's a discount code or free shipping ever since. (If your signed up on the website you'll get email notifications of these).

While they aren't cheap they are both beautifully designed and made, you really feel like you've brought something special. When you receive one and the carved wooden boxes every piece comes in just adds to this, I actually have them dotted everywhere around our home now. Also the English pound is about half the Australian dollar at the moment so the perfect time to buy, right? well that's what I tell myself (and my boyfriend). 

You might have seen quite a few of my Samantha Wills pieces as I've got them in the post on my Instagram but I hope you've enjoyed the peak at the new ones in my collection and how I wore them last night. I'll leave you with some of my favourite ones from the Samantha Wills website below. 

Sophie x

Clockwise from top right... (click for links)
Eyes don't lie bracelet in Sorbet, Bohemian Bardot ring in Apricot,
  Dream On cuff in White and Bohemian dreaming clutch in Magenta.