Summer OOTD - Hath my eyes deceived me? Is that sunshine... In England?! Quick - get the dresses out!

Hello lovelies, isn't it absolutely glorious outside today? Well, it is here in sunny Essex anyway! It's one of those really pleasant spring/summer days where even the breeze is warm and it's not unbearably hot, but just right. This meant one thing for fashion - no tights and summer dresses!  That's right, me who is obsessed with wearing absolutely everything with tights is giving it a miss and fully embracing spring with bare, pale legs!  I've found ASOS have so many beautiful summery dresses they have brought out recently, and couldn't resist not to buy one, so to bring in spring I wore my new ASOS midi dress:

Dress: ASOS; Belt: Boohoo; Cardigan: New Look; Shoes: New Look; Sunglasses: Karen Millen

Yes, I went a bit picture happy, I blame it on the love of this dress & the sunshine!

 I got it during one of ASOS's free next day delivery deals and just had to buy myself it because of this fact... Not because it was gorgeous or anything, no no no! The dress costs £28 and comes with a candy pink skinny belt which works brilliantly with it to add a bit of colour to it. I find the dress is very 'Audrey Hepburn' style, with the long striped skirt and sleeveless roundneck top - elegance with a smidgen of nautical theme - the ideal summer dress! This is actually only my second or third midi dress, as normally I stick with a 'just-above-the-knee' skirt length, and midi lengths made me worry I'd  look even shorter, but I'm definitely coming round to them now for summer. Plus I broke out the sunglasses, oh yeah, I'm saying its summer now by wearing those bad boys - you hear me Mother Nature!

I went with a 1950s style today with a wide waist belt, a cropped red cardigan, with red flats and a red hairband, just to brighten up the outfit and give my waist a bit more definition! I love this belt from Boohoo.com because not only does it really cinch in the waist, but the cute Butterfly clip on the front gives that extra something - a bargain for £6 in clearance! 

To go with my summer 50s dress, I co-ordinated my make-up with light shimmery pink shades and a deep pink blush with catflicks, something nice and fresh:

Powder: Rimmel Matte Powder; Eyeshadows: Sephora Palette; Eyeliner: Rimmel Liquid Eyeliner; Mascara: Diorshow Iconic; Blush: Benefit's Thrrrob; Higlighter: Benefit's High Beam; Concealer: MAC Studio Sculpt; Lipgloss: Urban Decay

 I really, really love my Sephora eyeshadow palette - they seemed to have covered every colour and they are all pigmented deeply, so it only takes one or at most two applications to get the colour I want. If anyone gets the chance to go to a Sephora, I would highly recommend their eyeshadows from what I have been able to try out so far! 

I'm going to sign off now and enjoy the sun some more, hope you all get the chance to as well! 

Have you been spring shopping yet?

Love,

Domestic Goddess Training #1 - Baking the Perfect Victoria Sponge.

Hello my lovelies! So since my knee op, I've been deciding to don an apron and let loose that domestic goddess hidden inside me - the 1950s wife just fighting to get back out again! So after pouring through several cookbooks, I found one Squirreled away in one of my bookcases that caught my eye. 

'The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets' recipe book by Linda Collister has taken all the best recipes from the show into a book, that to be honest, the pictures just make you want to rip them out of the book. Now, I don't know about you, but I loved watching the Great British Bake Off, not for the competition, but literally because I loved all the different types of things they baked and how creative they could be with ingriedients! So I got started, firstly with what the recipe claims to be 'the perfect victoria sponge' - and in all fairness, I can't argue, it is bloody fantastic! I have made quite a few victoria sponges over the years and this one has definitely been the most successful, and after posting a picture of the finished product on twitter I was asked by fellow bloggers to post about it. So if you fancy a bit of cake with a cuppa, but don't want to trek to the store these are the ingriedients you will need:

- 225g unsalted butter (soft)

- 225g caster sugar

- 4 eggs

- 0.5 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 225g self-raising flour (sifted)

- 1 tablespoon of milk 

- Strawberry Jam

For buttercream:

- Icing Sugar

- Unsalted Butter (soft)

- Vanilla Extract

I've found that the silicone cake tins work the best to cook in as the sponges just slip out so easily with little risk of breaking once it comes out the oven and gets moved onto the wire racks - these literally made all the difference to my most recent victoria sponge which slipped out of the tin perfectly:

Nom! You have no idea how excited I got when they turned out like this, last time the sponge stuck to the tin... Great for mid-baking snack, not so much for presentation though - Mary Berry would have not been pleased!

So once the sponge was done, I closed the recipe book and decided to wing the buttercream mix and what I wanted to put in a filling - tempted by nutella, I kept with the traditional strawberry filling but with a twist - fresh sliced strawberries! 

I sliced them quite thin so not to raise up the second sponge too much, but just thought it was a nice little variation on the class victoria sponge - plus it totally justified eating loads of cake because it did have fresh fruit in it - win! 

With the buttercream, I do it off of instinct really - a decent amount of butter but definitely outweighed with icing sugar. Just keep mixing the quantities until the mixture is almost white and fluffy in texture. I always add in vanilla esscence as well to add that extra bit of flavour! This is basically my favourite part of the victoria sponge - not gonna lie. 

My finished product:

Sadly, it didn't last like this for more than about five minutes. It was demolished by the family and the boy within a couple of hours, all with only good things to say about it... I, of course, did not have a cheeky two slices... Whoever said that is lying!

Here is the recipe on Amazon.com, just go to the contents page on 'lookinside' part and click on 'victoria sandwich'. Mary Berry even gives her own little tips! I would definitely recommend this recipe book to anyone, it has sooo many good recipes including macaroons that I have posted about earlier!

Are you fans of baking? Would you like more posts like this? Anyone else such a huge fan of The Great British Bake Off?

Love,

A Trip to the Hairdressers - Back to Blonde (Stage One)

So, after being brunette/redhead again for almost a year now, I am attempting blonde again! For the past two-three years I have just been going in circles from blonde to brunette to redhead, then back to blonde. It has definitely taken its toll on the purse, I have to say, which has led me to just want to go back to my natural blonde (maybe with a few highlights) and stay there! Almost a definitive move to put my university days behind me boohoohoo! 

With this decision in mind, off I trotted to the hairdressers to have my bank account drained and a heated debate on just how we were going to get my hair back to its natural colour - 

without shaving it all off or cleansing it. This resulted in having my ginger hair, dyed dark brown and blonde highlights put throughout - as the brown lightened the hair would look closer to blonde and then be more seceptiable to blonde dye. It took a few hours, and needed a toner after the first round (it was a Bride of Frankenstein moment at first) but it did get rid of the red and didn't require bleaching my hair and turning it into something the Scarecrow would want to stuff himself with. So now its just the long, long, long process of highlighting it back to the colour I want. Here's how it looks at the moment:

They also decided to cut loads of my beloved hair off, and give me really short layers - its quite nice and gives it great movement! I do love my hairdressers, they always get it right - what will happen when I have to move?!?!?! Dum dum daaaah! 

Here's a sneaky outfit post at the end too:

T-shirt: Hollister; Caridgan: Hollister; Skirt: ASOS; Tights: M&S

I do love me a polar bear t-shirt! This is one of my cosy but cool outfits - Like 'Yeeah I've made an effort but its still casual' sort of things.

Do you guys have a hair dying complex like me? Or do you stay natural? 

Love,

Review: Rimmel Matte Pressed Powder & Macaroons!

"Happy Windsday Piglet" - Just thought it would be a nice way to start, especially since it has been a little windy today... Or so it seems through the bars of my cage... Over-dramatic, anyone? 

Anyway, as my readers might have picked up from other FOTD posts, I am a loyal to Boot's No7 make-up especially their 'creme touch pressed powder' which is the perfect base for my make-up and is one of my essential items. So when it ran out the other day I thought I might try something else that was a little cheaper and came across this little gem by Rimmel! 

For £5.49 (I think), I am seriously thinking of dropping Creme Touch and replacing it with this! The coverage is absolutely amazing and gave me this flawless skin look with only a little application whilst avoiding that 'caked on' look that you can get with some powders. This is one happy customer! Plus the colour was perfect for my complexion which is sometimes hard to cater for being so pale! The only downside is that it doesn't come with a powder puff or anything which is annoying but not something that is going to hold me back from buying again. 

Here's the rest of my look using my beloved Naked2 Palette and Rimmel Liquid Eyeliner:

 Eyeshadows: 'Verve' & 'Pistol' from Urban Decay's Naked2 Palette; Blush: Benefit's 'Thrrrob'; Eyeliner: Rimmel's Liquid Eyeliner; Mascara: Diorshow Iconic; Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte.

That last one is because my hair is getting dyed again tomorrow so think it will be the last time for a whiiiiile that I am going to be a redhead - shall miss it I think! But bring on the new spring/summer hairstyle!

And just as a random thing, since being stuck at home I have got into baking using the 'Great British Bake Off' recipe book. Yesterday, I made a victoria sponge, which like the title says, was the perfect victoria sponge - weight was definitely gained. Today, I upped the challenge and decided I was going to conquer Pina Colada Macaroons, from scratch. After a good hour or so of preparation and having my outfit covered in icing sugar (anyone want to donate an apron?), here were the results:

And they were goooood - not to blow my own trumpet or anything... However, they literally are just sugar, double cream and pineapple - but a gorgeous treat for every now and then, bringing a little Paris to Essex!

Now what to bake next??

Do you have an essential make-up item? What do you think of Rimmel make up?

Love,

Hello Sailor! Going Nautical with Polka Dots & Stripes.

Ahoy there me mateys! How aaaarrrgh thee? Ok, enough with the pirate talk considering this isn't even a pirate fashion post, the thought process just went: sailor-sea--pirate! Anywaaay, the outfit I am blogging about today is actually one that I have owned since sixteen so its always a nice feeling to be able to still fit into something I bought six years ago - but is that a fashion faux pas? Even if it is, I love these items so much and for me, I just have not been able to part with them. Plus with the jumper it has a 1920s theme to it, but without the jumper it goes 1950s - I love the cross over these two periods!

 New shoes from H! by Henry Holland

Jumper: New Look; Skirt: New Look; Tights: M&S; Shoes: Debenhams

For me, this is one of my most ideal outfits that I just can't see me getting rid of EVER - it has everything I want: a knee length full circle skirt with polka dots, short sleeves, navy and the perfect mix of stripes/polka dots! Plus the colours just work for both a more chilly day (with tights) and in spring/summer. The only new item of this outft is the shoes which I have had my eye on for a while now. I love that it is a striped bow detail and being ballet pumps they're just too cute! I know you're not supposed to wear navy with black, but it doesn't look that awful really... 

Do you have any outfits that you can't bear to part with? What do you think of the blue/black faux pas? 

Love,

Sunday's Spring Shopping - Boohoo & Sugarhill Boutique.

Hello my dears - hope you are all having a relaxing Sunday especially with the sunshine! With my knee not being in tip-top shape, I am filling my time with online & dream shopping when my puny purse cannot reach the costs of everything I want. Today, I purchased my first items from Boohoo.com, and discovered Sugarhill Boutique as another online retailer that has absolutely everything I want at prices that I'm not so keen about - look at me becoming adventurous! 

Having heard mixed reviews about boohoo.com, I haven't tried buying anything from them before and only rarely glanced at their collections, but after seeing their 50s inspired fashion ad I was intrigued. I have to say, I did fall in love with several of their dresses & skirts, and after brutally cutting down my basket I decided on a pink polka dot dress & butterfly waist belt:

Photo from Boohoo.com

I love the 50s large polka dot pattern and sweetheart neckline of this dress as well as the candy pink colour - definitely something for spring and to brighten up my work wardrobe with! They also have it in navy which I was tempted by but got convinced to go for something different which I'm feeling pretty good about.

But after this spending and buying The Muppets soundtrack on iTunes, I had to control myself - something that is always painful to do, especially since I discovered Sugarhill Boutique from another blogger. So instead of buying everything, and I mean literally every dress on the Sugarhill website, I decided to blog my current dress dream-list:

Photos from the Sugarhill Boutique website.

Oh, they are just so beautiful! Seriously, these dresses just make me desperate to win the lottery or to marry a millionaire - sadly, neither seem like a likely option so until then its dreaming about these beauties. I have to say that the sunflower dress does seem like the ideal spring/summer dress with its pattern and shift dress style - love it! Alas, with the price tag of £48, its not an affordable dress for me right now. Oh well, a girl needs to have a dress to dream about right?

What do you guys think of Boohoo.com & Sugarhill Boutique? Got any dream dresses on your summer/spring list?

Love,

Glossybox March - Heavenly Harrods.

Hello my darlings! So after my recent disappearance from the blogging world due to flu last week & my knee operation this week, I am back and blogging - starting with this month's Glossybox!

From first hearing about the collaboration through the Glossybox mystery codes and then getting sneak peeks into the products being offered through the promotional event at Harrods, this month's box had succeeded in catching my eye after previously losing faith in Glossybox. After cancelling my subscription last month having felt let down by the past two boxes (almost like its luck of the draw if you are going to get the box with good products or the other one...Anyone else feel like this?), I was won over by the promise of some luxury  minature items from the Harrods Beauty Hall - a promise Glossybox definitely kept to this month! My box arrived this morning and I was absolutely pleased as punch at the goodies I got, receiving decent sized items from Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry, Molton Brown & Clarins, as well as a perfume sample!

 I love the class olive green Harrods bow!

The presentation of this box alone is lovely, especially with the classic Harrods touches! But I am absolutely thrilled with the products I got - especially the Burberry Lip Cover in Rosewood Satin which is quite a natural colour with a satin sheen that applies so smoothly, and a decent sized Molton Brown shower gel! I had been secretly hoping for the Molton Brown minature being a complete addict, so this was definitely a joint number one product with the lipstick! Despite getting a youth serum by Yves Saint Laurent, which at only 22 doesn't seem all that necessary (I get mistaken for under 18 a little too often for my liking sometimes...), I did use it this morning simply because it smells something gorgeous and works as a nice face base! I'm yet to use the Clarins Extra-Firming Body Cream but looking forward to reviewing it as have been dying to try some Clarins for ages now. The only thing I wasn't that impressed with was the perfume sample from Narciso Rodriguez which I wasn't a fan of the scent, but that's just a personal thing being quite fussy and only wearing Chanel! 

So for me, the Harrods-Glossybox set up has been a huuuuuuuuge success and absolutely loved it! With more boxes like this being offered, I would definitely resubscribe to Glossybox! 

Has anyone else received their boxes yet? What do you think? 

Love,