fashionista

Tuesday 12 July 2011

summer boho

sorry i haven't posted in a while, just waiting for inspiration!

Summer is my favourite season for buying clothes because some great new styles always seem to appear or re-appear if they were popular in the past! This year a great style is boho princess and summer flair. Boho consists of floaty, floral, pastil colours, and bling which i can't get enough of! Whilst i was surfing the net, i came across these gorgeous floaty palazzo trousers and couldn't stop myself from buying some from boohoo.com. They go great with a plain tee, especially a crop tee, but the outfit just doesn't work unless you pair the trousers with a pair of killer wedge heels! Spice up the outfit with a clutch and shrug for a dinner out, or glam it up with a sunhat, white rimmed sunnies, wedges, and bangles for a lazy day at the beach or out shopping on your holidays. Other great items i found at boohoo were:

the 70's boho look is really in this summer, it's all over the magazines, and they are like fashion bibles! It's a daring look but you can pull it off with the right accesories! But with these trousers just avoid trainers every which way or you will end up looking like you're wearing pyjamas! Grab these awesome trousers and your on the summer fashion path straight away! You don't want to be left behind. If you haven't got chinos already, then you've missed your chance i'm afraid, because fashion moves quickly so the faster you've got these, the better they will look! Have fun with these great buys! Chow x

Thursday 2 June 2011

Colour confident

Recently i went to a university graduate fashion show where the students made all of the clothes themselves. It was pretty stunning to see the models wearing these brand new creations, and ultimatley inspiring. A couple of the collections were all about colour and one in particular about matte colours. These collections spoke the truth of fashion since a colourful summer is well on its way and flying into the shops. Everybody wants a peice of the rainbow and i certainly do too! Thankfully there's enough rainbow to go round so here's some items you can buy that fit the mold!

Normally, i would say stick to primary colours but this plum and cherry red shell top is very cute and will go great with this skirt; both from Topshop. This outfit shows off a warm friendly mood, and the gorgeous bright orange fifties full skirt is the perfect warm colour. Along with the shoes and an orange pendant necklace, this outfit is a great casual look.

















This cool purple vest jersey maxi is made for the beach night life! It's a blank canvas to add accesories i.e. belts, necklaces... I really like the soft material and plus at New Look buy it now for only £8! bargain!

Monday 30 May 2011

10 minute beauty

To be honest, when i get ready to go out it takes me longer than it does to actually go out! But there's one thing that saves me the most amount of time when i do my makeup; my beauty bag! I couldn't live without it because every single item in it is worth having! I have a big drawer full of beauty products that i mostly don't use, and i'm sure that you do too! So here's whats in my beauty bag:
                                                                 
                                                             

       This bronzer from The Body Shop is absolutley fantastic.It gives you that natrual tan look that blends in with your skin tone really well and it feels light on your skin. It covers redness and spots easily without damaging them and overall gives you the perfect glow. I've had it for a couple of years and although that seems gross ive used it every single day it has only faded slightly! It's a great investment buy!
 To go with your bronzer/blush you need a brush and i say the bigger the better. This one is the closest to mine as i could find. It's great and small so it doesn't take up too much room in your makeup bag yet the brush it big so it's good value. The shape of this one is great because i find that the ends are less likely to split.
 This waterproof eyeliner from maybeline Khol Express is very hard wearing and effective. It can give you a thin light line or thick and dark depending on the pressure you use with it. It hasn't clumped up like my previous eyeliners, it's not messy, and it feels gentle on your skin.
 I'm a great fan of the No.7 makup range because i find it reliable and effective. This intense volume mascara is dark black and therefore gives me long lushious lashes within two strokes of its brush.

 Barry M is a great favourite of mine also, but i usually go for natrual coloured makeup so it's a treat to have bright nails instead. My favourite out of this pack is the mint green, and you can contrast by painting each nail seperate colours since they all work well together!
Now, this No.7 eye compact is a legend. It has three compartments with lipgloss, eye shadows, a mirror and brushes. There are so many different colours to choose from it's a real investment. I find myself using the peach colour most often because it's a fantastic natrual colour.
Foundation is everybodies guilty pleasure, a good foundation hides spots and redness without it appearing too obvious by blending in with your skin tone. This No.7 essentially natrual mineral foundation comes in a range of skin tones and rarely clumps on your face. It's great at covering redess and i often use it to hide baggy eyes if i'm quite tired.
I hope you liked looking through my beauty bag, new updates soon x

Friday 27 May 2011

summer swimming

Finding a swimming suit is one of the hardest tasks known to woman! It has to fit right in so many places, and if it doesn't, it can make you look positivley awful! From saggy to see-through, most swimsuits are just designed for embarrisement, and ones which claim to be figure shaping and therefore are bank braking prices, often turn out to be the opposite. But imagine you could fine a fabulous, fitting swimsuit, at a bargain price? Say no more, your fairy goddess is to the rescue!
Florals, whites and pastel colours, ruffles and beads they are all very fashionable this summer, but Black is still our hero for swimwear to hide those lumps and bumps. Here are a few highstreet swimsuits for different body shapes!


This two peice bikini is perfect for boy shapes since the floral pattern enthasizes curves and the soft top ensures comfort. The colours are pretty and the pattern is just beautiful, plus it's only £19:50 from Next! I really love this one, it's my favourite no doubt!



This all black swimsuit from M&S is just one of their range of tummy control swimwear. But this one is listed because it's subtle and slimming, and has an ultra sexy one shoulder strap which is the only decoration neccasary to draw eyes upwards. Its perfect for curvier ladies, and also taller ladies who should stick to one peice swimwear so as not to lengthen their shape with a bikini! It's a real investment at £29:50 even if a bit pricey.

One for the teens! Tammy at BHS has surprisingly got a load of brilliant budget bikinis and this one is my favourite. It's double lined for comfort, has adjustable straps for fit, there's a cute bead in the centre and ruffles are right on trend. From sizes 9 to 15 years, this bikni is great for teens and can be cute or sophisticated depending on your age!

Hope you thought this was useful. Thanks for reading :)

Thursday 26 May 2011

heavenly treats

CHOCOLATE AND HAZELNUT CUPCAKES

Feeling peckish? Well these yummy cupcakes with fill that hole in your stomach, they are so very delicious, i could easily compare them to little bites of heaven. You don't have to be a chocolate fan for these scrummmy cakes since there are a couple of variations, my favourite is this one though. It's one of the many cupcake recipes from the hummingbird bakery cookbook - but to save you buying the whole thing, i'll post a few recipes up every few weeks x


INGREDIENTS
100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1 and a half teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
40g butter/marg
120ml whole milk
1 egg
120g nutella or other hazelnut spread


FOR THE FROSTING (BUTTER ICING)
250g icing sugar
80g butter/marg
25ml whole milk
80g nutella or other hazelnut spread

MAKES 12 CUPCAKES


1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees of gas mark 3
2. put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, and the egg, and butter into a bowl and mix with and electric whisk until all of the ingredients are combined and there are no lumps.
3. spoon the mixture into papercases until they are 2 thirds full, then put in the oven for 19 minutes (use oven gloves!)
4. take out of the oven after 19 minutes is up or until they bounce back when pressed lightly. Leave for 5 - 10 minutes to cool before hollowing a small hole from the top of the cupcakes and filling it with a small spoon of hazelnut spread.
5. to make the frosting, put the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together. TIP-if you are worried about a flour explosion, cover the bowl with a tea towel.
6. spread the frosting on top of the cakes gently and decorate with hazelnuts. Voila!

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Just Dreaming Fashion...




As a devoted fashion follower, i love to own the latest trends; but reading "look" magazine, and popping into the shops every now and then just doesn't accomplish my fashion craves. Exploring new shops and styles is the secret to my wardrobe, and finding a bargain that suits me can really boost my mood. But whenever I shop, my mind is always set on one key item that i have to have, and this really makes life difficult! Having a specific piece on your shopping list is a great way to manage your cash, and can lift the heavy weight of browsing off your shoulders, but you have to remember not to take the fun out of shopping, and when you have enough time on your hands, browsing can be both fun and accomplishing, whether you end up buying or not. Once identifying what kind of shopper you are - whether you're frantic or composed - you can really start to use your time wisely and shop for the things that you want. Here are a few wardrobe investments for money saving prices!




These gorgeous rose print denim shorts from Republic are just £25. Although they are the most expensive of
my chosen essentials, they are truly an important part
of your wardrobe, especially as summer nears. Everybody needs a pair of shorts and these are just one of Republic's stunning collection! When i bought them, i was really happy with my buy and have been wearing them day after day. They're comfy, casual, and great quality.






In my opinion, trousers are the hardest thing to buy! There are so many styles to choose from, it's so difficult to choose the right pair for you. These £19:99 chino's from New Look are bang on trend at the moment and come in bright neon colours if you're bored of beige. They are a real investment buy since they go well with almost anything. These are my favourite item of the month!

Espadrilles! They're the comfy but fashionable shoes of the season - with so many types to buy, you can practically buy a pair of Espadrilles for any occasion. My favourite's are £10 from Topshop which come in a variety of colours, you can also find them in shops like Bershka, New Look, and Primark, but these Topshop shoes come in a range of patterns and colours with padding inside for comfort. The perfect shoe for summer!


Finally, my designer pick of the month is this Lady Dior coral patent bag. It's soooo expensive that i can't even bear to write down the digits, but for now, (until i've saved up) i'll just have to look at it! It also comes in multi coloured, but coral is the colour of the season so this gets my vote :)